I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing
by MadeOfTitanium
Summary: I grip the silver spear tightly in my hand and raise the weapon so that any watching allies or enemies can see me. I take a deep breath and throw it with all of my strength. The weapon strikes the dummy right in the heart and it falls to the ground with a thump. "Not bad, sweet cheeks," he grins widely. "Shut up Marvel!" Marvel/OC 74th Games and onwards AU
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! I've devised this fic for you all and hope that you enjoy it! The storyline and character has been altered several times for this fic to be exciting enough to be brought to you. Be happy that it has finally been able to become reality and not just an idea in my head! XD So there's some things that you should know about this fic. It will be an alternative universe for the 74****th**** Hunger Games containing several OCs of mine thrown into the mix. I don't want to stray too far from the original storyline for now; however later on there will be quite a lot of end-game changes. This fic will be a Marvel/OC; however don't expect any romance right away as no decent love story would have that! XD He never gets enough love and he's one of my favourite characters and I loved how Jack Quaid portrayed him in the movie, so expect some heavy fluff later on! YAY! It'll be a general mix of book and movie events and scripts, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! I can't wait to write some later scenes like the training, arena scenes and the last few moments in the- No spoilers for anybody! So, sit back, relax and most importantly, enjoy the wild ride that we're about to embark on!**

_**Disclaimer**__**: **_**I do not own The Hunger Games; only my own ideas and characters!**

**Chapter 1**

~X~

I panted as I charged around a corner as my breath came in laboured bursts. This was not going to plan! My boots were scuffed and I knew that my older sister would not be impressed that I had ruined her favourite pair of leather boots. I desperately attempted to straighten out my thin white blouse that was rapidly sliding right down my shoulders- the thin black belt loose around my stomach. As I reached the end of the street, I barrelled ungracefully inside my home, near enough kicking the wooden sky blue door open. Still sprinting at full speed, I shot up the creaky stairs as quickly as I could, only to barrel into something. More accuratley, someone. My survival instincts immediatley took charge and I put all of my strength into pushing the person in my way over. We fell with a loud thump and I hurriedly pressed my palm violently into the cheek of the person, roughly pressing their face into the soft azure carpet of home. Suddenly, strong hands gripped my shoulders and I promptly thrown off of the body. I rolled and came up to balance on one knee to face my attacker.

"Glimmer! What the hell do you think that you're doing?!" I screeched, getting up roughly and dusting my clothes off, straightening my shirt once again as my older sister laughed gleefully and rocked on her heels as she got up.

"Oh, Opal! You never learn, do you? Seriously, I can't believe that you fell for that the second time this week! The second time!" she snickered, tossing a blonde plait over her shoulder.

"What do you expect? I run up the stairs and the first thing that I see if your ugly face," I joked and got to my feet, winking at her as she followed suit several seconds later.

My sister was one year older than me, making me 16, and we looked very similar. We had both inherited our mother's long golden coloured locks and the bright sky blue eyes of our father. The only difference was that Glimmer was several inches taller than me and she always looked nicer than I did. I adored my older sister, she was my role model throughout our whole lives. We often trained together at the Academy where we were trained from a young age to take part in the Games. Neither of us had ever considered volunteering and we were content with simply watching the Games and rooting for the people in our own District. We couldn't bear to lose one another and we were used to an average life of a young woman in District 1- not stepping out of our comfort zones. Glimmer followed me into the bedroom we shared where we both got ready for today, because today was a special day. Today was the Reaping day for the 74th Hunger Games and I had a feeling that this year would be special.

~_I could stay awake just to hear you breathing_

_Watch you smile while you are sleeping_

_While you're far away and dreaming_

_I could spend my life in this sweet surrender_

_I could stay lost in this moment forever_

_Where every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure_~

My sister and I walked hand in hand as we approached the justice building that was kept clean every year to look beautiful whenever our District was televised. District 1 always had a certain sense of elegance and pride about it unlike any other District. We joined the crowds of girls our ages and gave our names in and Glimmer gave me a quick hug before joining her friends who were excitedly chattering away and making sure that they looked okay, should their face appear on the massive screen that was displayed near the stage where the bowls of names were held. Somewhere in there was my name. Only on one slip of paper. Our family did fine with what we had and we decided from when Glimmer was 12 that we didn't need to sign up for extra grain.

As the last few people dashed to their places, I smoothed out my blonde hair that Glimmer had elaborately placed in two complex braids that fell over my shoulders. My Reaping dress was the same blue colour as my eyes, only mixed with a slight tinge of pink and white. The colour of an opal that was similar to the milky opal charm on my necklace that was given to me by my parents on my 13th birthday. Suddenly, the Capitol escort stepped out from the building and smiled widely at all of us. She had a short blue bob and onyx coloured eyes. She wore an odd black dress that had threads of green and yellow woven into it and her shoes were several inches high- also with similar colours.

"Welcome!" she laughed, her high voice sounding giddy with excitement. "What an honour it is to be escorting two lovely tributes from the marvellous District 1! My name is Elsie Oport and I am so happy to be here with you all!" Several cheers sounded from the large crowds and she blushed as she shuffled, waiting for the crowd to quiet down. "Now before we draw the names, we have a special video brought to you all the way from the Capitol!" she gestured and the film started rolling. It talked of how 13 Districts rebelled against the Capitol and war sparked. After many years of bloodshed, the Districts gave in and District 13 was destroyed. To remind us that we had to be kept in line, the Hunger Games were born. One boy and girl from each District between the ages of 12 and 18 would be thrown into an outdoor arena where they would fight to the death. As the video finished, the attention turned back to Elsie. "Now, let's select the tributes. Ladies first!" she giggled and made her way to one of the glass bowls. Her green dyed hand fumbled around for a minute and she snatched up a piece of paper and waddled back to the microphone and she opened up the paper and cleared her throat. "Glimmer Venon!"

"No," I breathed.

My older sister tossed her hair over her shoulder and made her way into the aisle where several people were clapping. The Peacekeepers began to guide her forwards and I noticed that she looked strained. You see, you wouldn't notice it, but Glimmer was born with one leg shorter than the other. It was something not many people noticed, but it made her move slightly slower than the other girls her age. If she went into the Games like that, she could be killed.

"Come on up!" Elsie called and I bit my lip as Glimmer reached the bottom of the steps. If I was going to do something to save my sister from death, this would be the only thing that I would be able to do to guarantee her safety.

"I volunteer!" I called, a small tear escaping form the corner of my eye. I watched the camera pan around to capture my slightly distraught face. My terrified face could be seen on the screen as I stepped out into the aisle. "I volunteer for her!" I repeated and Glimmer looked murderous.

"Opal! Don't you dare!" she hissed and marched over to me.

"I volunteer as tribute!" I repeated, shoving her out of the way.

"Well, looks like we have a volunteer folks! Let's give a big hand for her," Elsie enthused and the Peacekeepers dragged a snarling Glimmer away from me as I headed to the stage. The District ignored my enraged sister and applauded for me, some of the boys whistling and the girls cheering manically. My heart pounded and my blood roared in my ears as I climbed the steps and looked out over the proud people in my District. "What's your name?" Elsie asked me as I reached her side.

"Opal. Opal Venon," I replied meekly as the crowds quieted down.

"And I'm guessing that the young lady there was your sister-"she began.

"My older sister. Yes," I cut in and nodded, shaking my head, sending the tear flying off of my face. I couldn't show that I was weak. Especially not now. I had volunteered to take my sister's place in the Games.

"Fabulous! Now, let's move onto the boys!" she cheered, all hyped up. She swanned over to the other bowl, seizing a slip of paper and hurrying back to my side where she opened it and called out the name. "Marvel Queyen!"

My head snapped up as a familiar face stepped out from the crowd. He was tall, taller than me, and had a mop of wavy brown hair the colour of oak. His emerald eyes sparkled as he brushed down his blue dress shirt and made his way towards the stage. He moved with a confident stride and quickly took the steps two at a time and within a few seconds was at mine and Elsie's side. My heart beat faster as his eyes locked with mine. Marvel was one of the most arrogant boys in our District and one of the favourites back at the Academy. If anybody could win the Games, it was him. I would make sure that he won if I couldn't. I couldn't let one of my childhood friends be somebody that I killed. We had known each other since we were tiny. Glimmer, Marvel and I were a tight knit group and good friends. However, when the older two joined the Academy, Marvel changed- becoming different… not the boy that I used to know. I couldn't kill him.

"Well, shake hands," Elsie sighed as we stared at one another. I stepped closer to him and gripped his hand in a tight handshake and gave a forced smile. He returned it and I dropped his hand. He quickly snatched the other and raised our joined hands into the air. I struggled, but the people of our District cheered and I paused, remembering what our raised hands meant. This meant that we were in an alliance. That we would work together with the other Careers to kill off the weaker tributes. "Give another hand for our tributes!" she called one last time and the people cheered before she led us into the Justice building.

I was led to a room that was neatly kept and completely clean and well decorated. I sat down on a velvet chaise, before the door flew open. Glimmer stood there with a murderous look on her face. The Peacekeeper let her in and closed the door behind her and she glared me down.

"Mother and Father aren't happy," she stated bluntly, her lower lip trembling.

"I don't care," I snapped back, my voice sharp as I kept the tears from falling. We kept staring at one another before I finally let the tears fall and I let out the emotions I had been holding in. Glimmer's angry façade faded and she dashed to my side and hugged me.

"I know why you did it," she breathed.

"I couldn't let you die. Your leg would slow you down," I sobbed into her muscled shoulder. She patted my hair.

"I know, I know. But Opal, you could die too," Glimmer reasoned, her tone reprimanding and with a sharp edge to it. "Mother and Father said that you brought shame on the family. That you should have let me go on with the Games and try and win."

"I'll try Glimmer… for you," I promised her and she smiled, several tears leaking from her eyes, ruining her eye make-up. "In case I don't see you again, just know that I love you all so much," I sobbed as the Peacekeeper came in and dragged her from the room. The door slammed with a shut and I was all alone in the room. Mere moments later, a new Peacekeeper stepped inside and wordlessly gestured for me to follow him. I followed him through the hallways and out of the back doors to see a sleek train waiting for us. Elsie trotted forwards and opened the door, gesturing forwards as I found that Marvel was several metres behind me. I waited for him and he gave me a polite, less arrogant smile than before.

We were led on to the train by an ecstatic Elsie who was blabbering on about how exciting it was to get a volunteer and about how brave I was. I nodded and rolled my eyes—the woman was really beginning to annoy me. Marvel hadn't said a word at all and I was nervous about what we would first say to each other after all of this time. My qualms vanished as we stepped on board the train that was decorated with silver décor and golden fabrics. All of the chairs were made from a plush material and stuffed so that they were soft and comfy. A large table of food was spread out and held so many dishes that the only part of the tablecloth that you could see was just under the placemats. All different colour liquids lined the shelves opposite the table and Elsie quickly dashed to grab one, swiftly taking the decanter out to pour us all some orange liquid and handed both Marvel and I a glass. "To Marvel and Opal, District 1s tributes!" she giggled and our glasses met and we all sipped down the liquid. I felt the butterflies flutter in my stomach and the nerves began to flare up.

The Games had well and truly begun.

~X~

**Tada! I hoped you liked the first chapter 1. If you did, then you should subscribe and favourite it and me. If you really enjoyed it and want a fast update, then you should review me with your thoughts on the chapter and what you liked about it. I'm no fan of any flames, so no offensive comments please. I'll see you guys soon! **

**Until then…**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! Here's chapter 2- enjoy my lovelies! Special thanks to everybody who is following and favouriting. Now we just need more reviews! Want a special shout out? Review and I'll mention your name here! So, special thanks to: Dr Moustachio Girl! Your comment was so sweet! Thank you! Now on with the story! Oh and a note, I'm only writing fast cause I have lots of time on my hands- we will have some long waits as I'm a very busy girl. For now, read people! Read and enjoy!**

_**Disclaimer**__**: **_**I do not own The Hunger Games; only my own ideas and characters!**

**Chapter 2**

~X~

After finishing the sweet tasting drink, we all sat ourselves down in the gold coloured seats, when two people breezed into the room. I knew who they were immediately. The man was tall and had a mop of sandy coloured hair and bright blue eyes. The woman had bleach blonde hair and eyes the exact same colour as the man's. They were Gloss and Cashmere, the brother and sister that had won corresponding years in the Games. They sat down opposite Elsie and I and next to Marvel. They gave a short nod each and settled themselves into the comfy chairs, seeming perfectly relaxed. They had so clearly done this so many times before. I had seen them both walking around the District wearing the finest and most expensive clothes. When I was younger, I looked up to them with awe- wanting to be as beautiful as Cashmere and admiring Gloss' demeanour. This was the case up until the past few years when I found that they were just as big headed and arrogant as my good old friend, Marvel.

It was Cashmere who spoke first in a gentle voice as though we were stupid. "Okay you two, let's just decide if you want to be trained separately or together."

"You can train us together," Marvel nodded and I turned to face him, one of my eyebrows raised as he faced me. "Is that a problem, sweet cheeks?" he asked scathingly. I tossed a braid over my shoulder and held my head high as our mentors trained their gazes on me.

"Not a problem at all Marvel," I smiled sweetly, putting meagre emphasis on his name. If he was going to call me nicknames throughout the Games, he was going to be in trouble- with me.

"Okay," Gloss remarked, one eyebrow raised, pulling some files from a folder sat next to him. "We had enough time to grab your files from the Academy so we could analyse your skills and decide what weapons you need to train with," he explained, flipping open Marvel's and scanning it for a minute before looking up. "Okay Marvel, you're good with knives and spears and you've had some experience with a sword and bow. Your survival skills are okay, but they could do with some work."

"Okay," Marvel nodded as we watched Cashmere scan through my file and came up frowning slightly.

"Opal, you can work well with a bow, knives, blowguns and you're okay with a sword," her frown turned deeper. "But your survival skills are nowhere near to the level that Marvel's are. And you've never been through the spear training. We have a lot of work to do."

I narrowed my eyes but kept the sweet façade up. "We can work on all of that," I promised her and she merely stuffed my files back in the folder without a care in the world.

"Okay you two, we also need to talk about your interview angles and things like that," Cashmere continued. She faced me and scanned me once before exchanging quiet words with her brother and they both met my gaze. "Opal, we want you to be confident and sexy. Joke around a bit, but not too much. Don't be innocent in any way- it never really works unless you're a 12 year old," I bit my lip and nodded as they faced Marvel and discussed for another minute and turned to him. "We want you Marvel to be dashing and gentlemanly, but we want you to be slightly cocky and good natured too. We don't think that you'll struggle too much with that."

We both nodded and Marvel got up, stretching and began to head towards the tribute rooms and I promptly followed him. I had to talk to him before we reached the Capitol. When I reached the train section that contained our rooms, I grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and with all of my strength; I pulled him around to face me. The cocky smile vanished and a look of rage crossed over his face.

"What do you want, sweet cheeks?" he ground out and I placed my hands on my hips.

"What do I want? I want you to talk to me Marvel. I'm your District partner. Hell, we used to be best friends up until you and Glimmer went to the Academy!" I snapped back, stepping closer to him, invading his personal space.

"I think the key words there were: _used to be_. Opal, just leave me alone," he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He went to turn around, but I grabbed his arm and spun him around again. "What?!" he roared, sending me back a step or two. My eyes narrowed as the rage coursed through my veins.

"You know what Marvel, I thought that before we go into the arena, we could at least say that we were friends again. But now you're just being childish. You don't like people seeing past your strong manly façade, but guess what buddy? I see right through it. Want to know why? Because I used to know you!" I half screamed back. "I wanted you to be the friend that you used to be!"

The look of anger melted off of his face and he became emotionless. "Opal-"he began lightly. I held up my hand, but he continued to talk. "Opal, the reason that I couldn't talk to you was that my parents were so eager for me to train up and be reaped. And I have been. I just lost track of what was important and focused on being the best Career that I could be. And sure enough the training paid off and I did get reaped. With one of my friends. How do you think that feels? We may have to kill each other, so excuse me for being slightly rude," he stated in a clipped voice.

My lower lip trembled in as the reality finally seeped in. "I'm sorry," I whispered and tried to brush my tears away. However they fell as he gave a gentle smile. One that I hadn't seen in who knows how many years. I choked on my tears and he stepped closer to me and pulled me into a tight hug.

I rested my chin on his shoulder as he rubbed my back. "No Opal, I'm sorry. I realise now that I should have made more effort. We can still be friends," he spoke lightly, choosing his words carefully and he pulled away as I wiped my cheeks.

"Of course we can, Marvel," I sniffed, giving him a sincere smile. He returned it and gave me another hug before we went our separate ways.

I slid out of my Reaping dress and un-plaited my hair before crawling under the silver coloured covers. I quickly drifted off into a dreamless sleep and woke the next day to find my muscles sore. Stretching, I yawned and got up. I changed into some smart black trousers and a pale gold coloured blouse, leaving my blonde locks wavy. I made my way barefoot to the dining cart and walked in to see Elsie, Marvel, Gloss and Cashmere tucking heartily into a meagre breakfast. The realisation that I hadn't eaten much yesterday struck me and I took a seat next to Marvel, greeting my companions cheerily and getting the same back. Looks like everybody is more relaxed today. As we tucked into warm breakfast pastries, Elsie poured us all out tea; meanwhile, Gloss and Cashmere were regurgitating advice for the Games between large mouthfuls of the rich food. I only took a small amount, not wanting to get too attached to the rich food that was so flavourful. Once I had finished what was on my plate, I simply sipped at my mug of tea and took in everything Cashmere and Gloss were telling us.

"The District 2 tributes will probably lead the pack. Just let them get on with it and when they're not expecting it towards the end of the Games… pounce!" Gloss exclaimed suddenly, making us both jump.

We nodded and Elsie switched on the TV and we watched the Reapings from yesterday. We started with our District and I watched as I volunteered for Glimmer and was shortly joined by Marvel and we made our alliance. Then came District 2. A huge boy of 18 volunteered and was quickly followed by a girl of my height and perhaps a year younger than me. She grinned widely as she climbed the steps and I nodded to Marvel. There was the rest of the alliance. District 3 was quite boring. Both tributes looked well fed, but probably had no experience holding a sharp knife, let alone a sword. District 4 was interesting- the boy was small and looked springy and young whereas the girl was Marvel's age and she looked strong and determined. District 5 had a girl with a shock of ginger hair and a long pointed nose. The rest of the Districts were uneventful until we reached 11. A small dark skinned girl with wide chocolate brown eyes was selected and she only looked about 12. She was followed by a massive dark skinned mound of a boy who looked like he could crush anything with his meaty hands. Then came District 12. It looked unclean and dirty as ever. A 12 year old was picked, small and frail, until her older sister volunteered for her. A blonde boy her age was also picked before the screen went black.

We all sat in an awkward silence until I broke the ice. "Well, I guess I'm not the only girl who volunteered for her sister. That sort of kills my fire," I joked, when suddenly Elsie leapt to her feet and squealed, dashing over to the window.

"Marvel, Opal… welcome to the Capitol," she announced and we looked out of the windows to see a huge white city coming up with tall buildings with domed roofs or a sharp point like a tower. We pulled into the train station where Capitol people were cheering and pointing at us. Several lights flashed as reporters tried to get a photograph of us heading into the Remake Centre. We finally pushed our way through and were immediately guided to a room divided in two by a curtain. I took one side and Marvel took the other. Three women dashed over to me and introduced themselves and declared themselves as my prep team. I nodded and let them remove my Reaping clothes and they laid me down on a table. Within two hours, every bit of hair was gone apart from the hair on my head. I had been waxed, plucked and thinned out to suit my team's standards. They cleaned my body before I was deemed perfect for my stylist.

I was led to a special room where I would meet him or her. As I was District 1, I was near enough guaranteed a good stylist. As I waited with only a thin robe on, I toyed with my hair that had been left loose and I ignored the stinging in my legs. Suddenly, the door opened and a pale man stepped inside. He had floppy brown hair and wide green eyes. My stylist wore nearly all red, only his suit jacket was blue and so were the shoelaces on his smart loafers. His eyes and lips had been lined with red make up and he had a dozen blue earrings adorning his large ears. He sat down next to me and offered his hand.

"You must be Opal. You can call me Ace," he introduced himself, accent thick. I nodded and found that he had a firm grip. We talked a bit about the District and what sort of thing I did back home. After several minutes, we got onto the topic of my chariot outfit. "Okay, District 1 is known for its luxury items and I and your District partner's stylist Delphine wanted to focus on that and make sure that you and your partner match. So, we're going to have you as furriers and jewellers."

I nodded. "Okay, so what sort of thing does that entail?" I asked and he chuckled.

"Don't worry Opal, you'll see soon enough," he got to his feet and nodded. "I'll go and get your outfit and I'll be back shortly," he grinned once more before leaving. "They're going to love you!"

~X~

**Looks like Opal's making friends in the Capitol and her and Marvel have made up. I couldn't have them mad at one another for too long and I knew that you guys would want to see what their friendship and later relationship will be like. Well, if you liked this chapter, then you know what to do!**

**Until next time..,**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Here's chapter 3! This one has some more friendship and stuff between Marvel and Opal, so let's see how that goes! This chapters shout outs: Dr Moustachio Girl! Thank you again for being someone who reviewed. I'm slightly disappointed. I know how it feels to get lots of views and only 2 reviews. Normally I read the fic of people who read mine, so it's like a two way thing. You want reviews and your numbers to increase, then review mine! Anyway, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!**

_**Disclaimer**__**: **_**I do not own The Hunger Games; only my own ideas and characters!**

**Chapter 3**

~X~

I held my breath as Ace and Delphine added the finishing touches to our costumes as we stood a few metres from our chariot. Ace had me in a shimmering long pink dress that just skimmed my ankles. On top of that was a heavy pink fur coat that completely covered my shoulders and made it hard for me to move my arms. My face had been smothered with heavy make up in pinks, purples and silver. Just before we were given the signal to get onto our chariot, Ace pulled out a large headdress sort of thing that was covered in feathers that stood tall and proud. We were given the signal and I climbed into the chariot with the help of the stylists and I found myself frozen on the spot as I smiled widely at Marvel. He wore a suit that was pink and glittering in the light and an identical fur coat and he looked just as bothered and hot as I did.

"Ready, sweet cheeks?" he asked with a wink.

"Yeah, I'll be ready once you stop calling me that ridiculous nickname of yours," I cut back returning the wink and the corner of his mouth pulled up in a smirk. "Let's get this show on the road!" I enthused and near enough on cue, the horses guiding our chariot began to walk forwards and the doors opened as we began to ride towards the Training Centre. People cheered on either side of us and we smiled widely and waved out to the crowd, wanting to keep the attention on us. However this proved to be hard as the Capitol people quickly became distracted by the other tributes. Suddenly, Marvel looked as though he was about to be sick. Carefully, using the hand that wasn't waving, I entwined his hand in mine and gave it a quick squeeze. He gripped my hand back and the confidence found its way back onto his face.

We trotted quickly through the city and were the first to come to a halt in front of the building. After several minutes, we were joined by the other tributes that also pulled up around us. I couldn't help but feel jealous as I spied the District 12 tributes pull up wearing black suits that looked like they were on fire. Nobody no longer cared about the two gorgeous looking District 1 tributes- the crowd was fixated on the strange pair from the weaker tributes from District 12 that were just asking to be killed right now.

Moments later, President Snow appeared on an overhead balcony and addressed the whole nation. I tuned out his speech and weighed up our enemies and allies now that we were all face to face. District 12 was the obvious threat for sponsors, whereas the only physical threat was the huge boy from District 11. I barely noticed the speech ending and our chariot abruptly lurched forwards. I stumbled backwards, nearly falling out of the chariot, when suddenly Marvel caught my wrist and I grabbed onto his arm, using it to pull myself up. He pulled sharply and this time I stumbled forwards, crashing into his chest. He swayed and held me against him and I couldn't help but feel the blush swarm to my cheeks. Marvel didn't let me go until we were both on the ground and Ace rushed up to us, followed by Delphine. Neither of them talked about my incident, instead gushing about how beautiful we looked. Mere moments later, Cashmere and Gloss stepped out from a corner and approached us.

"Very nice guys, well done," Gloss nodded, leading us towards the lift that was at the end of the wall. Marvel put his arm around my shoulders and helped guide me towards the lift. Gloss, Cashmere, Elsie, Ace, Delphine, Marvel and I all crammed in and we were only in there for a second and the doors opened to reveal the most luxurious living quarters I had ever seen. Everything was a light shade of blue or lilac, white or black. All of the furniture was beautiful and the most breath-taking part was the wall of glass that allowed us to look out into the road that we had rode down mere minutes ago. I couldn't help but gape and gaze around with wide eyes. Marvel was also analysing everything while our companions seemed to be perfectly comfortable with everything.

"Your bedrooms are down there," Elsie said, pointing towards the living area. The sofas and table and TV set were raised just like the dining room, only lower down. Some steep steps led down to two black doors. "Why don't you get changed and I'll get dinner for us all," she smiled and summoned a woman in red, an Avox, to get us our food. Marvel and I made our way to our rooms and I took the left room as he stepped into the right.

My room had white, red and black furnishings. To my left was a huge walk in wardrobe, to my right was a bathroom with a massive shower that had lights fitted into it. Meanwhile, right ahead was a raised platform that had a wide bed. I walked up to it and ran my hand over the silky material. A large window allowed me to see out into the city and I smiled as I watched the Capitol people walking along. Shaking my head, I stripped out of my chariot clothes and laid them out neatly on the bed, knowing that Ace wouldn't want them to be merely dumped on the floor. I ran myself a warm shower and selected some sweet smelling shampoo and scrubbed my body clean. I got out and dried myself before grabbing some clothes from the wardrobe. I selected a simple lilac knee length, long sleeve dress and braided my hair before stepping out of my room. I joined my stylists and mentors at the dinner table where an array of food sat before us. There were bread baskets dotted around with loaves from different Districts, warm soup in many colours, platters of fish, salads and piles of sliced meat. I plated up and sat down across from the mentors and heartily tucked in. Within several minutes, Marvel joined us in a white shirt and black trousers. His hair was a curly mess from his shower and he smiled before taking a seat next to me. We chatted as we ate our way through the starters and main course. When dessert came in the form of cakes, fruit platters and warm beverages, I started a conversation with Elsie and we chatted about the Capitol and fashion here. We then retreated to the sitting room and sank into the plush sofas to watch the recap of the chariots. Marvel and I looked fabulous as we waved and smiled at the crowds. They managed to get a glimpse of me holding Marvel's hand and I couldn't help but chuckle as the crowd went nuts. Then, all of the attention left us as District 12 came out. The fire looked terrifying, yet beautiful at the same time and I couldn't help but feel envious. We all looked so stupid compared to them. I tuned out the conversation as the screen went black. They talked for at least half an hour before I grabbed a Capitol magazine and flicked through it with a look of pure boredom on my face. Suddenly, Gloss, Cashmere and Elsie headed off to their rooms and Ace and Delphine left to go to their part of the building. This left me and Marvel alone in the sitting room.

"So," he began awkwardly. "You looked really stunning in your outfit tonight," he offered and I smirked, closing the magazine, tossing it onto the table.

"So did you," I remarked with a grin. More silence filled the air as we simply stared out of the huge window and watched the Capitol people go about and celebrate the fact that they had some new tributes to watch fight to the death this year.

Marvel got to his feet and stretched and yawned. "Well, I'm shattered! I'm going to head to bed. Goodnight," he smiled before approaching me and kissing me on the forehead. I watched him in a state of awe and shock as he lazily made his way to his room and waved before closing the door. Once he was gone, I allowed my eyes to widen and my fingers went up to the place where he had kissed my forehead. I blinked in shock. What did this mean? Was there something between us? I had known him my whole life; surely I would have noticed some form of flirting. I had always known that Marvel was good looking; I had never said it to anyone though. I mean, he was pretty cute with his big emerald eyes and his tamed brown hair. I liked how he made me feel so small and innocent. Wait! What was I thinking?! I may have to be the one to kill him! I couldn't get even more attached to him. Our friendship was rekindled, but now I was developing a crush on him! Or… had I always admired him and liked him, but I never realised it? The latter option seemed more likely.

Should I tell him, or would it make it even harder in the arena for me? Did he feel the same way? Did he want to tell me?

I rubbed my eyes in frustration and got to my feet. I retreated to my bedroom and stripped down to my underwear before crawling into my soft bed and turning the bedside lamp off. I tried to get to sleep, however my mind was alert and awake, ready to decipher what the kiss to the forehead meant. Instead of beginning that impossible task, I thought about home. My family and the District must have been watching us during the chariots. I was pretty certain that they would all be proud of us (minus my mother and father) and would be dying to place some bets on us if they were here in the Capitol. I grinned inwardly as I thought of returning home to see my family pleased with me- however that would mean that Marvel would be dead. I pushed down the thought and buried my face in the pillow, banishing the thought from my head as I tried once more to fall asleep.

~X~

**Awh! She's got feelings for Marvel and he might like her back! *Squee* Liked this chapter? Then you know what to do! Shout-outs to those who review!**

**Until next time…**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 is here! YAY! We have some training, food descriptions that'll make you feel hungry and perhaps some fluff if I feel generous! The shout-outs go to: creativewriter17 and Dr Moustachio Girl! Thank you both so much! Special shout out to both of you for being awesome! Also, I did change the name of this fic to: I Don't Want to Miss a Thing. Yes, like the Aerosmith song. It summarises Marvel and Opal's relationship beautifully! I will leave the summary (unless you fell it could be improved) as it is. Well, on with the chapter! **

_**Disclaimer**__**: **_**I do not own The Hunger Games; only my own ideas and characters!**

**Chapter 4**

~X~

I woke up the next morning, bleary eyed and thirsty. I had a quick shower and pulled my hair back into a tight bun before finding the training outfit waiting for me on my bed. It consisted of fitted black trousers and a black shirt that hugged my body. There were red stripes on the sleeves with a number 1 in a white box showing what District I was from. I pulled on tight black boots and buckled them up. I gathered my clothes from last night and noticed my necklace from home. I still had it. Carefully, I picked it up and placed it safely in one of the many drawers in my room, saving it for later to be my token in the arena. I left the room to find the team having breakfast. Marvel was dressed similarly to me and greeted me warmly as I tucked into a cinnamon bun and poured myself a cup of tea. Elsie guided us downstairs to the training rooms, only after Gloss and Cashmere gave us some advice.

"Help each other out. Marvel show her how to work a spear. Don't ignore the survival instincts and get to know your allies and enemies. Become close with District 2 and watch out for District 12. "

We went down in the lift and Elsie left us. We were the first ones there, so we waited for a while for the others to come down. I sat waiting and couldn't help but watch Marvel as he paced in front of me. He seemed keen to get on and get hold of a spear, whereas I was anxious to get my hands on any weapon I could use. Several minutes later, District 2 to 9 came down- not long afterwards the rest joined us and the trainers also came down. We were instructed to do certain exercises and not ignore certain stations. The second that we were allowed to go, Marvel quickly grabbed my wrist as we followed the District 2 tributes over to the knife throwing. The girl nodded at us whereas the boy simply grabbed the heaviest sword and began to swing it at the dummies dotted around.

We halted next to the girl and she faced us. "Alliance?" she asked. "Us and you two?"

"Of course," I grinned and shook her hand. "I'm Opal and this is Marvel," I introduced as Marvel hurried over to grab a sword and join the boy from 2.

"Clove," she smiled back. "And the crazy one with the sword is Cato."

I nodded as we watched the boys hack away at the plastic dummies, slicing them to shreds. Clove and I left them to it and retreated to the knife throwing station. We watched the District 6 girl and boy try to hit the targets, but the only succeeded in nearly slicing off their own fingers. Clove and I brushed past them and I let her go first. She seemed a natural. She flung them at the speed of lightning and it hit the target or dummy right in the centre of the heart every time. Once she was done, I grabbed same curved hunting knives and threw them about, nearly hitting the centre, however not at the same speed as her. Determined not to be left out of showing off, I convinced her to have a go at archery. She seemed okay with a small silver bow and managed to hit the dummy in at least a vital organ. When it was my turn, I chose a golden bow and sheath of the same colour arrows and tied the quiver around my waist.

I pulled the first one free and loaded it to the bow. From the corner of my eye, I could see the Gamemakers watching us all, however their attention was mostly trained on me. This was my time to shine. The first arrow struck the heart and I could hear Clove let out a sigh of awe. As quickly and smoothly as I could, I yanked free another one and sent it in at the head. Within several arrows, the dummy was impaled and would defiantly be very dead if it were a real person. All of the places where the vital organs were was covered by golden arrows. Clove gave a polite round of applause and I grinned placing the bow back as the trainer rushed forwards to pull the arrows free for the next tribute. As I turned, I noticed the girl from 12 looking at me with hatred. I raised an eyebrow and she turned away. Cato caught my eye and he was nodding in approval whilst Marvel winked at me and gestured for me to join him. We headed over to the axe station and began to practise whilst comparing ideas about who our biggest threats were. We were all called in for lunch and we sat with Cato and Clove, talking about out weapon preferences and skills. After lunch, we all headed back out again and we mostly watched the others tributes. The little girl from 11 didn't seem like much of a threat as I watched her climbing from the blowgun station. I joined Cato and Marvel at the spear station where we watched the 12 boy try and climb up one of the hardest nets. When he finally reached the halfway mark, he fell and landed with a thud. I chuckled along with the boys as we watched him sit up and glance over at us with a look of fear in his eyes. His District partner, the girl who glared at me from the bow station, dashed over to him and whispered something before running away again. The boy got to his feet and glared at us as we openly watched his actions, smirking at the discomfort he was showing in his actions. Suddenly, he seized one of the heaviest weights.

"There's no way that he could use that," Cato snickered as we watched him step up. He gripped the massive weight and tossed it and it crashed into the weapons holder, sending an array of spears, knives and swords to the floor. We raised our eyebrows as he stalked away and discussed what we had just seen.

"But 12 aren't normally like this," Marvel protested.

"Too right they aren't, there's something fishy going on," Cato nodded. "We need to keep an eye on them and take them out as quickly as possible in the bloodbath."

We split up and Marvel guided me over to the spear throwing section where he got right at home. The trainer managed to find me a suitable sized spear and we brushed them away as Marvel began to teach me the basics, like how to aim, throw the spear and retrieve it. He showed me several techniques and showed off a little. I used the titanium spear and threw it several times. The first few attempts completely missed and clattered to the ground, drawing unwanted attention to myself, gradually, I started to hit the target. It was only in the legs and arms, but I was pleased with my rapid progress. Marvel seemed pleased and I could only return the favour by guiding him over to the bow station where I found him a suitable sized bow and I gave him tips on his aim. We worked there for a bit before going climbing and then heading over to the sword fighting. Several hours later, we were all called in once more and told to be back here tomorrow for the second day of training. We took the lift to the first floor and immediately sank into the sofa. I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath. I felt so tired after working nearly solidly all day with the weapons. We were planning to save the survival skills and more climbing for tomorrow and possibly the hand to hand combat too. Gloss and Cashmere were out in the Capitol (probably getting drunk), so we were left alone with Elsie who was dying to hear how the day went and how we excelled. She seemed shocked that we mainly stayed in the weapons section and reprimanded us not to ignore the skills that could save our lives. We nodded and sat own for another extravagant dinner. Once we were done with the rich food, Elsie said that she was going to pop out for a while and we could amuse ourselves whilst she was out. Marvel and I sat down to watch some TV. I'm sure that ordinarily we could have watched anything, but right now, everybody had to watch the Games: before, during and after. The pre-Games show had Caeser Flickerman, the blue haired presenter, talking about each tribute and what they seemed like before the interviews. He started with 12 and talked about how we actually had some fighters this year as they both seemed pretty confident in the chariots. They worked their way through the tributes before reaching Marvel and I.

"Well, Marvel our dashing District 1 male tribute seems to be pretty handsome and is very skilled with a spear. So any ladies watching out there should keep that handsome face in mind," Caeser winked and I laughed as I watched Marvel squirm with discomfort. "He's pretty tall and looks strong, I would defiantly put my money on him," he carried on and the image of Marvel wiped off of the screen and was replaced by one of me. "Opal, our gorgeous District 1 female tribute. She's very beautiful and seems to know what she's doing here and I heard from a little bird that she knows how to use a bow," Caeser winked and I sank more into my seat and it was Marvel's turn to laugh.

As the show closed, Marvel shuffled up beside me and put an arm around my shoulders. "So, what do you think?" he asked.

"You looked pretty handsome on the TV," I offered jokingly, knowing he was talking about the tributes.

He grinned, going along with my little game. "Well, you certainly looked stunning too," Marvel grinned, resting his head against mine. His face turned serious as I gazed into the emerald pools and I watched as his gaze dropped and rested on my lips that were pressed together. One of his hands ghosted up to hold my face gently and my breathing hitched slightly. I leant in close to him and closed my eyes. I could feel his warm breath on my lips and I lightly licked my lips, when suddenly there was a loud bang. I jumped and fell backwards off of the sofa. I got to my feet, cursing violently, to see a drunk Cashmere and Gloss laughing their heads off.

"Hey guys!" Cashmere cheered and threw herself on the sofa where I was moments ago. "Whatcha doing?"

"Nothing," Marvel stated in a reserved voice and got up as Cashmere went to rest her head on his shoulder with wide eyes. "I'm going to bed, goodnight everyone. Night Opal."

"Goodnight Marvel," I responded weakly, eyes wide from our close encounter. He marched to his room and slammed the door shut.

"Was it something we did?" Gloss asked in a daze, leaning on my shoulders heavily.

"Goodnight," I cut in, moving fast and shrugging away from my mentor, letting him fall to the floor as I smoothly made my way to the bedrooms. I paused outside of Marvel's my hand raised to knock on his door, but I stopped myself and made my way into my room. I stripped out of my training clothes and let my hair loose before crawling into bed and letting myself relive today.

We had our alliance sorted and we had a rough idea who our enemies were. Now we just needed to hone our skills and prepare for our interviews and the arena. When I remembered the near-kiss, I felt butterflies in my stomach. Was he really going to kiss me? Or was he just winding me up? Those were my last thoughts before I fell into a dazed sleep.

~X~

**Eep! They nearly kissed! I hope you don't think that I'm moving too fast- I can justify my actions. They would have known each other for so long and would have begun to notice the other and the fact that they may die is making them realise that they need to show one another how much they mean to them. Anyways, if you liked this, you know what to do! Seriously, it makes me smile a mile when I see reviews.**

**Until next time…**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	5. Chapter 5

**And chapter 5 is a go! The shout outs go to: Dr Moustachio Girl and Jabberjays! Dr Moustachio Girl, I think that they just wear their underclothes when they sleep. *Shrugs* Oh and massive thanks to Jabberjays who reviewed each chapter at once! YAY! Thanks! Anyway, here's the second day of training and stuff in the form of chapter 5! Enjoy and review!**

_**Disclaimer**__**: **_**I do not own The Hunger Games; only my own ideas and characters!**

**Chapter 5**

~X~

When I woke up the next morning, I immediately got up, feeling more awake than ever. I showered and pulled on my training clothes and dashed to the breakfast table, starving and parched. I was the last one there and Marvel was waiting by the door for us. Gloss and Cashmere looked grumpy as ever from their hangover and I couldn't help but smirk as they looked seriously ill. When I was done, I charged to Marvel's side and we went down alone. Training was eventful. We started with the survival skills and it took over an hour for us to be able to identify most of the berries that the trainer put in our way. We made sure nobody was watching when we handled the snares station as it must have looked bad that two careers had to learn how to make them. Marvel seemed to be better at it than I did and I left to him to it and re-joined Clove at the knife throwing station where we went head to head. She won of course and gave me a few friendly tips which I memorised. I exchanged brief words on sword-play at the swords station with Cato where he seemed to live and was content with chopping dummies up all day. Psycho if you ask me! I was glancing around, trying to find a station that I hadn't done yet and spotted one in the far corner. There was an elderly trainer that looked like he was in his early 60s. He sat in a chair that was next to a panel and several trays. I approached him and cleared my throat, making him jump.

"What can I help you with?" he asked in a gruff voice.

"Sorry, what station is this?" I asked and his sucked on his lips.

"Firearms of course," he said, sounding offended.

"Oh," I remarked bluntly. I'd never really seen guns in the Games before. He got to his feet and yanked open one of the drawers. The trainer pulled out a huge gun with a double barrel: a shotgun, and handed it to me. It weighed a ton and I struggled to hold it up. He sighed and snatched it off of me, loading a cartridge into it and sealed the chamber roughly before handing it to me. He instructed me how to hold it properly and explained the basics before sitting himself down again and pressing several buttons on his panel which brought some dummies up from the ground that was about 20 metres away.

"Whenever you're ready," he nodded and I squeezed the trigger. The butt of the gun shot back into my shoulder and I couldn't help but yelp. However the cry of shock was drowned out by the noise of the bullet going off. I peered and saw that the bullet had hit the shoulder of the closest dummy. The trainer nodded approvingly and I glanced behind me to see some startled tributes gazing over at the station. Grinning, I handed my trainer back the heavy shotgun, wincing at the pain in my shoulder.

"What other guns have you got?" I asked excitedly.

He grinned and pulled out all of the trays, letting me look through the selection of guns. I worked my way through the different sizes and found that I was most comfortable with the hand held guns. I had particularly taken a liking with what my trainer called a Texas Paterson 1836. Whatever that meant! It had a long, thin barrel and the gun itself had a dark wooden butt and long silver barrel. There were fancy swirls on it and a small design etched into the handle of my weapon. I played around with it for a bit, striking the dummy in the chest as many times as possible. I continued with this up until lunch when I joined Clove, Cato and Marvel. We heartily tucked into our lunch before setting out again. I wanted to go back to the firearms station, but Marvel protested and deemed that we headed back over to the spear throwing station. I nodded and we practised, taking turns before he grinned.

"What?" I asked lightly.

He snatched up a new spear that was made from silver and weighed it up in his hand before handing it to me. "Try this one. Aim for the heart," Marvel instructed. I stood at the marker and threw it as hard as I could. It missed completely. The silver weapon impaled itself in the head of the dummy and I gritted my teeth and furiously kicked the trolley that held the spears. The trainer dashed over and retrieved my spear before handing it to me.

"Marvel, I can't," I ground out between my gritted teeth.

"No, you can," he urged me. He placed his hands on my shoulders and I looked deeply into his eyes, trying to blink back tears of anger. "I know you can Opal. Trust me, I know you can. Try again," he spoke gently.

I nodded. "Okay," I breathed and stepped up to the mark. I checked that my positioning was okay and took a long deep breath. I gripped the silver spear tightly in my hand and focused on what Marvel had said to me and I tried to relax. I raised the weapon to my shoulders with my right hand and paused so that any watching allies or enemies could see me. Closing my eyes and counting to 3, I took a deep breath and threw it with all of my strength. It sailed through the air and I was sure that I would miss. I was shocked however, as I watched my weapon strike the dummy right in the heart. The impact made it shudder and it immediately fell to the ground with a thump that rang through the room. I couldn't believe it!

"Not bad, sweet cheeks," he grinned widely.

"Shut up Marvel!" I laughed giddily and threw myself at him, yanking him into a hug. He chuckled and picked me up, spinning me around.

"I knew that you could do it!" he enthused, placing me on the ground. I grin widely and without thinking, kissed him on the cheek. I expected him to freak out; instead, he smiled wider and grabbed my hand. "Come on! Let's go and try some hand to hand combat!" he laughed and we dashed over to the station.

~_Don't want to close my eyes_

_I don't want to fall asleep_

_Cause I'd miss you babe_

_And I don't want to miss a thing_

_Cause even when I dream of you_

_The sweetest dream will never do_

_I'd still miss you babe_

_And I don't want to miss a thing_~

We spent the rest of the day flitting from one station to the next. On the final day of training, Cashmere and Gloss came down with us to assess us themselves and recommend weapons for us to use. Marvel is of course recommended a spear, knife and sword. For me, a bow, spear and knives. The last day of training left us with the most bruises as we really worked hard, trying to do all of the stations once more in one day. The least that I could say is that I was pretty confident with most of the weapons and knew what plants are edible and what aren't. That night, I panic and plan what Gloss recommended for me to do in my private session. The next day was the day that we had our private session and of course the order is girl and then boy- so I'd be the first to go.

I ate only a small breakfast before we headed down and waited for me to perform and show what I could do. All of the other tributes waited with us and everyone seems as nervous as I did. When my name was announced, I stood up and brushed my clothes down. I walked towards the gate and Marvel grabbed my shoulder.

"Opal! Wait!" he called. I spun around and he hugged me tightly. "Good luck!" he urged me and as we pulled away, he kissed my forehead like he did the other night. I nod and walk through the gate to see the training centre deserted. The Gamemakers sat on a raised podium and gazed at me as I walked to the centre of the room. They gazed down intently and I gave them one of my most winning smiles; this is where flattery and good manners could come in useful.

"Good morning," I smiled gently. "I am Opal Venon from District 1 and this is what I've got to show you."

They nod and I set to work. The first thing that I do is drag several dummies into the centre of the room. I dot them around and struggle, and somehow manage to tie one from the netting overhead. I then lay out several weapons before me. A sword, a dozen knives, a spear and the golden bow and quiver of arrows. With several minutes already gone, I begin my display. I begin with my knives and throw them at the random dummies. Each one hits the mark that I aim for and I smile as they clap for me. I then pick up the sword and inflict some damage, leaving it stuck in the arm of the furthest dummy from me. I then scoop up the spear and try to remain calm. I throw it and it just misses the heart of the nearest one. I frown and know that my time's running out, so I strap the quiver to my hip and set to work with my bow. I fire them randomly and save the last dozen for my finale.

I take a deep breath and remember everything that I'd learnt at the Academy. I notch two arrows and aim the bow up at the dummy hanging from the net. I release the bowstring and the arrows embed themselves where the lungs would be. Then, with a speed equivalent to Clove's knife throwing, I release a constant stream- alternating between the target up in the nets and on the ground. When the last arrow is gone, I let lose the breath that I've been holding as I hear the Gamemakers clap.

"Thank you Miss Venon, that was a unique display, you may go," the lead Gamemaker announces and I curtsey before placing the bow back and leaving. The gate rises as they call Marvel's name and I grin widely at him as I pass him.

"Good luck," I hiss and he winks, stepping inside.

"Thanks," he murmurs back as it slides down behind him, blocking him off from me. Ignoring the stares from the other tributes, I head upstairs and greet Cashmere, Gloss, Ace, Delphine and Elsie as I reach the first floor. I explain what I did and they all clap appreciatively.

"Nice. Very nice," Cashmere nods and pours me a small glass of wine. "Now, we just need to wait for Marvel."

We chat and 20 minutes later, he grins and strides confidently into the flat. "Well?" I ask.

"It went really well. I saw the dummies that you left behind and I liked it a lot," he grinned as Elsie poured him a glass of wine too. "I just headed over to the spear station and threw some. It went all fine," he nodded and turned to Gloss. "I did what you suggested. I tried it blindfolded."

"And?" Delphine asked, wriggling with excitement.

After a tense silence, he grinned even wider. "In the heart."

We all cheered and Ace raised his glass. "To Marvel and Opal!"

"Marvel and Opal!"

We all drank our glasses and went into detail about how our sessions went. We had lunch and I left to get changed into some loose fitting white trousers and a black top before re-joining the others around the TV screen. We sat down as Caeser Flickerman appeared on the screen and introduced the show as we reached the training scores.

"Okay, ladies first!" he grinned widely. "From District 1. Opal Venon," he paused as he read the score and looked up into the camera. "With a score of…" I bit my thumb as I waited. "9!"

"9!" I yelled with excitement and hugged Elsie who looked startled, but laughed. Cashmere and Gloss congratulated me as we waited for Marvel's score.

"Also from District 1 is Marvel Queyen. With a score of…" he paused. "9!"

"Well done Marvel, not bad!" Cashmere nodded as Gloss clapped him on the back.

We poured drinks as we watched the rest of the scores. Both Cato and Clove got a 10 which was expected. Everybody else's was fairly low apart from 11 which was a bit odd. When we got to 12, we all waited with baited breath. I sipped at my drink as Caser looked through his papers.

"Katniss Everdeen, with a score of…11!"

My eyes widened and I choked on my water, spewing it out into my lap. Elsie frowned and handed me a wad of tissues as Marvel and Gloss clapped me on the back. Fury built in Cashmere's eyes and I swore that her right eye began to twitch.

"And finally, Peeta Mellark, with a score of… 8!"

I wiped away the water and shook my head. We all sat in a stony silence and I sighed. This Katniss girl was just asking for trouble. I knew that she would be a major threat in the arena. Whatever she had done for the Gamemakers had clearly been very impressive. But the question was: what did she do? I bit my lip and got to my feet quickly.

"I'm going to bed. Got to be up bright and early for the interviews," I smiled with fake enthusiasm whilst I was seething with rage inside. "What about you Marvel?"

He looked up, clearly deep in thought and cleared his throat. "Yeah. Me too," he nodded and I offered my hand to him. He took it quickly and got to his feet.

"Goodnight everyone!" I smiled, waving with my free hand and we walked down the stairs. We reached the doors I let the smile drop and I gripped Marvel's hand tightly. "That Katniss girl needs to be eliminated," I hissed through gritted teeth. "Promise me that in the arena you'll let me get her."

He looked shocked before grinning. "Sure, sweet cheeks. You know, you're slightly turning me on with this whole jealousy thing. It's sort of cute," My look of rage vanished and I blinked confusedly up at him. What was he saying? "Anyways, good night," he winked and kissed the hand that was still interlinked with mine. With another wink, he stepped into his room and I rushed into mine, closing the door with a slam.

I slid against it with a huge grin on my face. I closed my eyes and sighed with relief. Today was a pretty good day. A good score in training, impressing the Gamemakers and Marvel literally telling me that he liked me. Wriggling with excitement, I stripped off and crawled into my bed. Then suddenly it hit me. This could be one of the last times I sleep in this bed. Amongst making friends with Clove, getting to know Cato, being annoyed by Katniss and flirting with Marvel, I had nearly forgotten that I was here in a competition where I could die. I could have to kill the friends that I've made here, even the guy that I've known my whole life and recently realised that I had feelings for. Whoa! How strong were these feelings? Do I tell him? Privately? Publically?

Do I like him? Yes. A lot? Yes. Enough for me to give my own life for him? Of course. Did I l-

I bit my lip and let several tears escape from the corners of my eyes as I gently sobbed into my pillow as I answered the next question in my head. Did I love him?

Possibly.

~X~

**Dun dun dun! Everybody still with me? Good! Interviews next chapter and the last night before the Games! What unsuspecting bombshell will I drop on you all next?! Mwahahaha! Well guys, you all know what to do!**

**Until next time…**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	6. Chapter 6

**Here we go! Here comes chapter 6! YAY! XD Shout outs go to: Jabberjays and Dr Moustachio Girl! Thanks guys! **** I reckon you guys will all really like this chapter! ;) As we're all back to school and work and stuff now, updates will become a little more spaced out as I have several GCSEs rapidly approaching and they priority! Thanks for understanding! Anyways, read on and enjoy!**

_**Disclaimer**__**: **_**I do not own The Hunger Games; only my own ideas and characters!**

**Chapter 6**

~X~

My prep team worked with me all day as they removed any remaining hair from my body and began dusting my skin with a light coat of sparkling powder that when in the light, make me literally sparkle. Once my body was done, they let me into a robe as they worked on my nails, face and hair. One of them painted my finger and toe nails various colours that were accompanied by even more glitter. Another one of them curled my hair and wove it neatly into a bun which rested loosely on the back of my head. The last one coated my lips in a cherry colour lip gloss which apparently tasted the same and heavily lined my eyes with smoky make-up. They then proceeded to stick small diamonds to the corner of my eyes. Once that was done, they adorned my arms with sparkling diamond jewellery and gave me similar earrings, though when they reached my neck, they simply hung the necklace from home around my neck.

"There," the one who did my nails smiled. "Something to remind you of home."

I nodded, fighting back the tears as Ace breezed in with a dress bag. I stood to greet him as he hung up the bag and unzipped it. Inside was a flowing floor length dress. It was silvery, however when I watched it catch the light, shimmers of pink and blue appeared making the dress appear like a-

"Milky opal," I breathed.

"Yes," Ace grinned. "Just like your namesake. All of this Katniss Everdeen as the Girl on Fire crap is tiring me. I want them to remember you too. I want them to remember Opal Venon, the Girl that Shone."

I wiped away tears as I faced my prep team. "Thank you," I choked out and they all rushed to hug me, reminding me not to cry because of my make-up. They helped me into the dress and I admired myself in the floor length mirrors. The dress hugged my body and showed all of the right curves in all of the right places. It brushed my ankles, showing the simple silver heels that Ace had handed me. The halter neck was gorgeous and tied behind my neck. The only part that worried me was the front. It was very low and I bit my lips. Ace must have caught my look as he stepped up next to me and smiled.

"Cashmere said that she wanted something sexy and low cut, so I came up with this. You should have seen what she wanted to put you in," he shrugged and I shuddered at the thought of it. Shaking my head, I thanked my prep team one last time before Ace guided me to where all of the other tributes were gathering. We were one of the first there and Ace left me, promising to see me during the interview where he would be sat in the front row. I flitted over to Clove who just joined me and wore a gorgeous red-ish orangey dress that made her look slim and petite. Cato joined us in a black and blue suit and commented appreciatively on our dresses. Katniss turned up in a fiery red dress and looked uncomfortable. I found that I wasn't the only one that was glaring at her which gave me confidence. Her District partner joined her in a black and red suit and I narrowed my eyes as other tributes began to follow them.

"Looking for me?" a familiar voice asked from behind us. I spun around to see Marvel with his arms crossed. His suit was mostly blue, only different shades, bringing out a few blue flecks in his eyes. He had several parts of yellow here and there on his shirt which contrasted the blue, yet somehow looked great- only he could pull it off. He dropped his arms, only to wrap one around my shoulder and I leant into him. "You look amazing!" he grinned down at me. "Beautiful!"

I blushed and returned the smile. "You look really handsome," I winked playfully and he chuckled. A Capitol attendant began to get us into order and I griped Marvel's arm as we were shoved towards a cold brick wall. "Marvel, there's something I need to tell you," I began. Whilst my prep team were getting me ready, I decided that I would tell him tonight. Why? Well, if I died tomorrow, he could go his whole life without knowing that I loved him.

"Sure, sweet cheeks. What is it?" he asked, grin still plastered on his face. "Nothing bad I hope."

I brushed a stray lock of hair away from my face as I looked up at him with large eyes. "Well-"

Suddenly, the attendant put his hand on my back and guided me away from the rest of the tributes. I couldn't speak. It was too late. I had missed my chance. The person guided me towards the stage where I waited in the wings. I drowned out Caeser's voice and swayed. I'd blown my chance. All of a sudden, I heard my name announced and I shook myself and put up my façade. With a deep breath, I stepped out with a wide grin plastered on my face. I waved and the crowd cheered like wild. Sure enough waiting for me was Caeser who laughed as I sat down next to him.

"So, Opal, how are you? Are you prepared for the Games?"

"Yes, I'm very prepared! How are you Caeser?" I asked back, batting my eyelashes at him.

"I'm very well thank you," he nodded. "Now, let's talk about you! You volunteered for your older sister. Care to tell us why?" he asked.

I shrugged as though it was no big deal. "Oh, you know Glimmer. The men here would be too much," I joked, winking at the crowd who now laughed.

"I'm sure they would be," Caeser cackled too and grinned. "Also, congratulations on your training score. A big fat 9! Care to tell us how you got it?"

"Thank you. Well, when I got here, I just picked up everything I could and found that I was pretty skilled with some sharp objects," I giggled as though this whole interview was a game itself.

"Any details for us?" he asked.

"Just the usual. Knives, a sword, spear and a bow and some arrows," I shrugged and some people whooped.

"Extraordinary," Caeser chuckled. "Now, I have one more question for you," he nodded and placed a hand on my leg. Normally I would have shied away, however I had to remember my angle. "Do you have a boy back at home?"

Panic struck me for a second. We hadn't talked about a question like this at all. Do I tell the truth? Do I lie? I had lied to this crowd and the whole of Panem a lot. I had to tell them the truth about something. More importantly, Marvel had to know the truth too.

"Well," I began, biting my lip and staring down into my lap. The crowd cheered, calling for me to spit it out. I looked up with sincerity in my eyes and leant close to Caeser. "There isn't anyone that's back at home."

"But?" he asked gently, tightening his hold on my leg.

"There is someone," I smiled gently.

"Oh! Tell us! What's he like?!" Caeser urged.

I bit my lip and looked out into the crowd. "He's a really nice guy. Very genuine. Very talented too. Knows that he's handsome as I've told him several times," I laughed gently. If Marvel hadn't sussed it out by now, he would never get it until I said his name. "I've known him for quite a while, but we had some issues. It was only recently that we made up and I realised that I liked him and that he may like me."

That was it! I had said half of it. I knew what was coming next though. "Opal, you're killing us! We need his name!"

The crowd was going mental as I sighed ad looked up into where the camera probably was. I waited for the crowd to pipe down and I could see a screen that was showing all of the action. I looked terrified. Not wanting to be remembered like this, I smiled and said directly into the camera. "Marvel. He's Marvel Queyen, my District partner."

The buzzer went off and I faced Caeser. He looked so shocked and the crowd was going much more crazy before. Calling to get Marvel on stage this second. Caeser said goodbye and I waved, blowing kisses to the crowd before walking off and found myself face to face with Cashmere, Gloss and Elsie.

"We. Didn't. Say. Anything. About. Being. In. Love!" Cashmere roared, grabbing my throat and slamming me into a wall. Elsie screamed as I choked and my feet lifted off of the ground. Gloss ripped her off of me as I wheezed for breath. "You've just made yourself look weak!" she screamed, thrashing against her brother. "You ruined the angle!" she continued, swearing and shrieking. Gloss called for an Avox to lead her back to her room and she left as silent tears fell down my face. Gloss wrapped a comforting arm around my shoulders as we faced the screen that showed the interviews. Ace dashed from the nearest doorway and pulled me into a hug reassuring me. I thanked them and we turned back to see Caeser greeting a grinning Marvel.

"So, Marvel. What did you think of the previous interview with the beautiful Opal?" he asked as Marvel sank back into the chair.

"Well Caeser, like you say, she is very beautiful. She's very special to me," he nodded and the crowd cheered. "I didn't expect her to say that… but she's made me realise that I've always liked her as more than a friend."

The crowd loved it. I sobbed with relief into Ace's shoulder as Marvel returned my feelings on live TV. "It is shocking," Caser continued. "That we actually have a pair of tributes that love each other and actually don't want to tear each other apart!" he joked and Marvel laughed good naturedly along with him.

"It is a shock isn't it. I was so surprised myself by what she said. She really has guts to say that on TV," he nodded and looked into the camera, blowing a kiss. "I mean, she's brave, beautiful, talented and just so amazing!"

The crowd 'awed' and I grinned. The duo then went on to talk about his skills and life back home. The buzzer sounded and I got ready to meet Marvel. He left the stage and descended as Clove was invited on. The door opened and he stepped inside. I gazed at him with wide eyes and he smiled widely at me. Tears still escaped my eyes as I dashed towards him and he swept me into his arms. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and gazed up at him.

"Do you really mean it?" he asked.

"Of course," I whispered back.

"Thank you," he breathed and looked down, his thumb brushing my cheek. I looked confused and he leant down so that our foreheads touched. "Thank you for saying what I couldn't realise and say."

I let out a laugh as he brought my face up to his and I closed my eyes and smiled as our lips met. It was short and sweet as we put all of our feelings into the kiss. It was pure bliss and as we pulled away, he pulled me in to him and I smiled with happiness. A few moments later, we heard several footsteps and raised voices.

"That'll be the reporters," Gloss breathed and swore under his breath. We all dashed for the lift and took it up to the first floor. Cashmere was nowhere to be seen, so that left Ace and Gloss to say good-night to us. "You two had better get some sleep. We leave for the arena in the morning. We'll see you then."

We nodded and walked to our rooms for what could be the last time. Ace left and Gloss made his way to his room, leaving us alone. "Goodnight," Marvel murmured, pressing a long kiss to my lips. I returned it and pulled him in for a hug. "Come into my room once you're done," he breathed and I nodded, kissing him again before I stepped into my room.

I closed the door and squealed with happiness. I had done it! I had finally told him about my feelings for him. I was so happy! I danced around and giggled like a schoolgirl. I sat on my bed, swinging my legs as I reflected on my luck. I shimmied out of my dress, jewellery and heels before letting my hair down. I stepped into the shower and let the warm water remove the sparkles and other make-up from my skin, including the gems. When I was done, I braided my hair and changed into a plain white tank top and some soft blue night shorts and turned off the light before sneaking into Marvel's room.

Nearly everything was identical, only it was reflected so everything was the wrong way around. Marvel sat on the bed, his hair a wet, curly mess from a quick shower. He had on a white t-shirt and a pair of blue bottoms. He grinned when he saw me and held his arms open. I dashed into them and knocked us onto the bed with a giggle. We laid there for a minute before I faced him.

"You know that Ace, Delphine, Cashmere and Gloss won't be happy about me being here," I smirked.

"Of course, sweet cheeks," he winked and I laughed, wriggling up so that my head rested on his chest. We stared at one another before he broke the contact and looked down at my lips. "Opal, there's just one thing that I need to know. Why did you say it tonight? Why not before?"

I bit my lip and sat up, Marvel following my actions. "Tomorrow, we're going into the arena. If we're not lucky, one of us could die in the bloodbath. Hell, one of us is going to die. It's the Hunger Games. There's only one Victor. I had to tell you because I couldn't stand the thought of you not knowing!" I explained.

"Of course. I'm scared too Opal, but we're going to get through this together," he promised, pressing a kiss to my temple. I nodded as he stroked my cheek gently. "Now, we should get some sleep so that tomorrow we're awake and alert." We crawled under the covers and I made myself comfortable as he lay next to me and pressed my back into his chest. He wrapped one arm around me and kissed my cheek swiftly.

"Goodnight Opal," he whispered into my ear.

"Goodnight Marvel," I replied and closed my eyes as I drifted into a dreamless sleep.

~X~

**Tada! Enjoyed it? I did! I really hoped you liked it! The reason that I wanted them to confess their feelings this early on was to make sure that they have couple moments in the arena and they use it to their advantage. However, they won't be the only ones doing this. You'll see! Remember what I love! Reviews are golden!**

**Until next time…**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 and the first day of the Games! Yipee! How long will our duo pull through for? Well, read and find out! Each day in the arena will be represented by each chapter, unless it's a big day for my baby chickens! YAY! Shout outs go to: Dr Moustachio Girl and TheOldDuir! You guys are awesome! Have some virtual cookies! *throws them into the air and you catch them* YAY! Here's the next chapter!**

_**Disclaimer**__**: **_**I do not own The Hunger Games; only my own ideas and characters!**

**Chapter 7**

~X~

In the morning, I was dazed as I woke up. However I quickly remembered where I was. Grinning, I snuggled further under the covers and turned over to see Marvel still half asleep. "Morning," I breathed.

"Morning," he replied and ran a hand through his messy locks. My grin grew as I pressed a gentle kiss to the tip of his nose.

Suddenly, the door was thrown open and I instinctively screamed and grabbed the remote from next to me at whatever had made us jump. I heard Marvel swear from my side as we watched the remote make contact with a startled Cashmere's head. It ricocheted off of her head and she grasped her head, glaring and swearing. I bit my lip as Marvel pulled me closer into him.

"Ace and Delphine are waiting for you," she hissed and left us alone. I swallowed thickly and quickly ran to my room to put some decent clothes on. I met up with him in the living room; moments later, Ace and Delphine ushered us into the lift. Also joining us was Gloss who gave us some last minute news.

"Looks like 12 are playing the star crossed lovers angle too. But we have you two doing it for real instead of this sham. Just kill them off as quickly as possible," he recommended. "I'll try my best to get sponsors and I'm sure you'll get some pretty quickly. Use your relationship to an advantage."

When we reached the roof, we saw the hovercraft that would take us to the arena and once more, the nerves flared up. "Thanks for everything Gloss," I smiled and shook his hand. We said goodbye and clambered aboard, Ace and Delphine going to the place where the rest of the stylists were as we took our seats. Capitol workers injected trackers into our arms and I winced as a soft blue light suddenly flared up in my arm. I bit my lip and waited, when suddenly the hovercraft rattled and we took off. My gaze flitted around the rest of the tributes; some looked nervous, whilst others were keen to get into the arena. When we landed half an hour later, we got unstrapped and were separated into our District once more.

As Marvel and I were guided in a wet underground tunnel by Capitol workers, I played with the hem of my shirt. When we reached our separate launch rooms, the workers left us and I faced him. He hurriedly pulled me into a quick hug and I gripped his back tightly. We wordlessly pulled away and I gave him a shaky smile before we shared a passionate kiss. We broke away after several moments and I gave him a nod before stepping into the room. Ace was waiting and on a table laid my arena outfit. There was a pair of loose, olive cargo pants with many pockets all over, a light cotton shirt with a V-neck and was a light brown colour. Then was a wide belt with a large buckle that wrapped loosely around my waist twice and a double lined jacket with multiple features and was another shade of brown mixed with a dark yellow. Finally came the brown sturdy boots that had good grip for both running and climbing. Ace put no make-up on me, as I would have no need for it in the arena. However, he pulled out my necklace from home and I choked on the tears that I was holding back. He fastened it around my neck and tucked it under my shirt. He then pressed a button which got my final meal. I barely touched it, picking at a buttered roll that probably came from District 4. I ate several slices of beef and drank down as much water as I could. When we were done, Ace gave me a warm hug which I returned readily.

"You'll be fine. I just know it," was all he said as a voice commanded me to climb inside the glass tube. I nodded and made my way steadily to the glass tube. Several seconds later, it closed and I couldn't hear a thing apart from my panicked breathing. The platform beneath my feet began to rise and I let my fingertips brush against the metal edge around me. Suddenly, brilliant light shone down and I was temporarily blinded. I furiously blinked, to see a grassy area. Shaking my head, I began to analyse my surroundings.

The area was grassy and looked safe. Not far to my left was a lake and in the other direction and mostly around us was dense woodland. The cornucopia was not far and the light shone off of it. The supplies looked so tempting and I grinned. We were the most likely ones to get our hands on it. Small items laid about 10 metres from my feet, whereas I could see the sun glinting off of all of the metallic weapons. Suddenly, a similar mustardy coloured jacket like mine caught my attention. Marvel was directly opposite me and his emerald eyes were already fixed on the spear stashed away in the cornucopia. To my right was the girl from 12, Katniss and on my left was the large boy from 11, Thresh. The girl's eyes were fixed on the silver bow and sheath of arrows that was at the lip of the horn. Aha! So that's how she got a score of 11! I made it my goal to be the one to kill her with her own weapon. Throughout my analysis, I had kept an eye on the time and began to get in position to run. The timer above the horn was slowly ticking down from 30 seconds. I stretched as though simply going for a jog and grinned at my fellow careers. This was the time to play dirty and get viscous. The clock ticked down to the last 10 seconds and I couldn't help but let the grin find itself onto my face.

_10_

_9_

_8_

_7_

_6_

_5_

_4_

_3_

_2_

_1_

And I leapt from my pedestal and hit the ground running. I tore past Katniss and Thresh overtook me as we sprinted to the horn. I ignored the measly supplies and headed right into the heart of it. My eyes zoomed in on the bow and I snarled as somebody hands closed around them. I sped up, only to see the weapons come flying towards me. I caught them and looked up, dazed. Clove nodded and threw herself into the fighting, knives in hands. I grinned and hurriedly strapped the quiver around my waist and pulled the first arrow free. The 10 girl charged at me with an axe and I released the silver arrow and it impaled itself in her chest. Wait! Silver. I did a double take as I realised the bow and quiver weren't the familiar gold, but instead silver. Then I realised that the bow was different and my aim wasn't as good with this bow as the one that I had used in training. I shook my head and charged into the fighting and found myself several metres from Cato who was killing both tributes from 9. He grinned psychotically and teasingly blew me a kiss and I rolled my eyes as I released another arrow, hitting a girl attempting to flee with a red backpack. As I hurriedly scooped up an axe and stashed my bow into the quiver, I saw Marvel throwing a slender spear at a boy's stomach. He looked up at me and gaped.

"Behind you!" he called and I spun around to see Thresh pounding towards me holding a huge backpack and scythe. I readied the axe and threw it, only to see it rush past his shoulder. I swore violently as he continued to charge and I could hear Clove call out my name. "Opal! Get out of the way!" Marvel screamed. I waited until the very last second and dove out of the way, hearing the scythe slice through the air where I had been seconds ago. Thresh continued to run as Clove sprinted after him. I quickly re-joined the fight and Marvel, Clove, Cato and I had allowed the District 3 boy, Sparky, and the District 4 girl, Bridget, to join our alliance; however I think we all knew who would be hunting the other tributes and who would be guarding the supplies.

Several hours later, a pile of bodies lay around us and I wiped my face that had the odd cut or two. As I ran my hand down my face, a large amount of blood came onto it. I wiped it furiously on my shirt as I made my way over to where the others were stood. Clove was heavily panting and Cato was bent over catching his breath. Sparky and Bridget looked tired, but excited. Meanwhile Marvel looked fine apart from the blood staining his cheeks. I jogged over to his side and he breathed in relief as I skidded to a halt by his side.

"Thank god you're fine," he sighed, closing his eyes as though he was holding his breath for the past few hours. Suddenly, the cannons sounded signalling the deaths that we had caused. When they were done, we sorted through the weapons and I kept my bow and arrows on my back and selected a familiar silver spear from training- it looked identical. As I rummaged around, I came across another familiar sight. The gun from training. My eyes widened as I came across it in a large silver case that had other guns in it. I soundlessly lifted it and opened the chamber to find a single bullet inside. I closed it and wordlessly tucked it into the back of my trousers, not telling a soul about it. Cato selected a sword, Clove lined her jacket with various knives and Marvel took two spears. Sparky nominated himself and Bridget to stay behind, but Cato disapproved. After half an hour of arguing and snapping, we agreed to let them stay, only to get a terrifying warning from Cato.

"If I find that a single object is missing and so are you, I will hunt you down myself and tear each of your limbs from your body! Do you understand?" he spat furiously.

The two nodded fearfully and I rolled my eyes. "Let's go," I nodded and the four of us jogged gently towards the woods. We broke through the bushes and I grinned as the hunt began. We charged through the woods, scanning the ground and trees for any sign of anybody.

We remained unsuccessful, until the moon came out and night had fallen. We paused near a small creek and sipped at the water we had taken from the cornucopia. I panted as I re-adjusted the quiver on my back, when suddenly Clove leapt to her feet.

"Look!" she exclaimed excitedly, pointing west.

The three of us got to our feet and peered towards where she was pointing. A small fire didn't look too far away and it blazed gently. A feral smile came onto Cato's face and Marvel instantly grabbed his spears and began to jog over towards the flames. "Come on!" he laughed teasingly and I sprinted after him. As I neared him, something barrelled towards me out of the trees. I had no time to react, and simply screamed and tried to throw the person off of me. They were strong and broad shouldered, so I struggled. Suddenly, they were ripped off of me and Marvel held them against the nearest tree, pinning them to it by the throat. It was the boy from 12! Peeta! I scrambled to my feet and glared furiously, nocking an arrow to my bow. Marvel had a furious look in his eyes and I dashed to his side, bow still raised.

"Wait!" Peeta yelled. "I can take you to Katniss!"

We all paused and I slowly lowered my bow. "What?" I asked softly, bow still in hand.

"I can take you to her! It was all an act! I knew she'd fall for the star crossed lover's thing!" he choked out.

Cato frowned and Clove bit her lip, slightly lowering their weapons. "Why should we trust you?" Marvel snarled.

"Kill me if you want," he sighed. "But you'll never find her without me."

"Let him come," I found myself saying. Clove raised an eyebrow at me and Cato lowered his sword fully. "If he proves un-useful, we'll just kill him," I reasoned and Marvel dropped him to the ground. "Let's move on," I suggested lightly as Marvel glared down at our new ally.

"Yeah, let's go and find the idiot that started the fire," Clove enthused and her and Cato led the way, jogging gently.

I went to follow, but paused as Peeta got to his feet and Marvel gritted his teeth, before rounding on Peeta. "Listen, 12. You lay one finger on Opal and I'll skin you alive. Understand?" he threatened darkly. Peeta nodded and Marvel threw him a spear which the shorted boy caught unsteadily. "Trust me, when I threaten people, I make sure that they get what's coming," he hissed and turned to see me waiting for him. The look of rage passed from his face and a softer look came over his features. He stalked to my side and pressed a quick kiss to the corner of my mouth. "Let's move on," he suggested, offering his hand and I took it and we ran after our allies into the night towards the small fire.

~X~

**And the Games have begun! YAY! Hoped you liked this chapter! Sorry it took longer than expected, but I actually struggled to write this one! XD Who would have thought?! Anyways, you guys know the drill!**

**Until next time…**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm so sorry it's been so long guys! Everything's building up and I just freaked out! But… I didn't forget about you all! So, have a huge banana muffin from me as an apology! You also all get a slice of lemon drizzle cake for being awesome and reading this chapter! YAY! Shout outs go to: blondievampire, Dr Moustachio Girl and TheOldDuir! YAY! I also came up with a ship name for Marvel and Opal! Mopal! Have any ideas? Add them in your lovely reviews as always! YAY! Anyways, read on!**

_**Disclaimer**__**: **_**I do not own The Hunger Games; only my own ideas and characters!**

**Chapter 8**

~X~

"Please don't kill me!" the girl begged from under Cato's feet. After our run in with Peeta, we had headed right to the fire starter to find a girl from District 8 who was sobbing as we came into view. "Please! My name is Athos Birch! I'm only 13! Please! Please don't kill me!" she pleaded and I felt sorry for her for a moment. But then I remembered our situation. It was we kill her or she killed us. We picked the first option. Cato took his sword and stabbed her in the stomach. She screamed loudly, still begging us for mercy as Cato began to hack at her body. We chuckled as she feebly lay in the grass, the flames beginning to weaken as we made our way away from the body. Clove began to mimic the girl in a high pitched voice. I was shocked that the other Districts had had no training at all. If the Districts knew that they would be sentencing a boy and girl to death, surely they would train them up and give them fighting chance! It didn't make any sense! As we headed away, I paused, not hearing the canon sound.

"Surely we would have heard it by now," I reasoned, adrenaline pumping through me after our kill. "You know… the cannon."

"I stuck her myself," Cato sharply reminded me, looking offended as though I had told him that I had told him that I didn't like his boots.

"I'll go back," Peeta offered.

Marvel scoffed as the boy clutched one of his spears in a death-like grip. "We haven't heard the cannon," Clove nodded, biting her lip.

"I'll do it," Peeta said and made his way back. The four of us exchanged worried glances as we heard him make his way back to where we had been moments ago.

"How can we trust him?" I hissed.

Clove shot me a look and I shut my mouth. Suddenly the cannon sounded and we all whirled around to see Peeta stumbling towards us. "Well, was she dead?" Cato asked.

"Now she is," he paused. "Should we move on?"

"Let's go," Marvel snapped and we took off.

~ _Lying close to you feeling your heart beating_

_And I'm wondering what you're dreaming_

_Wondering if it's me you're seeing_

_Then I kiss your eyes_

_And thank God we're together_

_I just want to stay with you in this moment forever_

_Forever and ever_~

I was exhausted when we returned to the cornucopia and I threw down my weapons as we reached the horn. Bridget threw me a bottle of water which I gratefully gulped down as I dug some dried beef jerky from a backpack. I nibbled on that whilst Marvel flopped down by my side. Cato and Clove were examining our supplies as Sparky, Peeta and Bridget watched on.

"Are you okay?" Marvel asked.

"Tired, hungry and slightly angry. How about you?" I asked scathingly as possible around a yawn.

He chuckled. "Me too."

"Hey guys! What do you want from the weapons pile?" Clove called and we made our way towards our alliance on tired feet. "Better make your picks now before we all stock it up into a pyramid."

We looked at the huge pile that had been randomly thrown together and we waded in to examine the contents. Clove immediately claimed as many knives as her jacket and belt could hold. Cato snatched up another sword which came with a fancy sheath that looped over his back. Sparky claimed a simple spear and lighter sword than Cato's and Bridget selected some leftover knives and a deadly looking axe. Marvel of course got his hand on a couple of sturdy spears and winked, throwing one to me which I nimbly caught. I kept hold of my bow and arrows, but also selected a belt of knives. I had almost forgotten about the gun too. When I was sure that nobody was looking, I looked at it again. Gently and silently, I prised open the chamber to be sure that I had seen only one bullet. I was right. Suddenly, Peeta appeared around the corner of the horn and I slid it shut, hurriedly tucking it into the back of my trousers. The blonde boy had a spare spear and gave me a friendly smile which I half-heartedly returned before joining the real careers. We spent the afternoon piling up our supplies into a large pyramid. Sparky was designated to come up with a way to protect it when we weren't here and he began to blabber out ideas to Bridget and Peeta who were the only ones who talked to him. We all decided to spend the evening relaxing and designated watches to make sure that nobody snuck up on us. We had a meal of dried fruit and more beef before we settled down around a warm blazing fire which was about twenty times stronger than the District 8 girl's was. Clove and I took the first watch and within several minutes of us watching the tree from the fire, everybody else was asleep.

"Opal," Clove suddenly spoke, making me jump. "I wanted to ask you about something," she whispered over the fire.

"What is it?" I asked, sitting up from Marvel's side.

"I was wondering… how you figured out that you liked Marvel," she said blankly, her eyes flickering over to Cato's slumbering form.

"Oh," I sighed, a slight grin on my face as I realised what she was hinting at. "I don't know. We've known each other our whole lives and I guess I just pointed out the obvious," I shrugged. "Is that the case for you two?" I questioned.

She paused and met my eyes. Her gaze was softer than before and I couldn't help but shuffle around the fire to her side. "We've been friends ever since we were tiny and even though there's a bit of an age gap, I still have really strong feelings for him," she remarked, biting her lip harder. I wrapped an arm around her and she leant her head into my shoulder.

"You've got to tell him though. If not he'll never know and trust me Clove, you'll regret it," I nodded and she sat up.

"Thanks Opal. Why don't you go to sleep? I've got it covered. See you in the morning," she smiled gently and I returned it.

"Night," I muttered and crawled over to Marvel's side. I shrugged my jacket on and lay down next to him. I kissed his nose gently and shut my eyes, falling asleep quickly.

Next thing I knew, I was being shook awake by a grinning Marvel. "Wake up! Wake up!" he cheered like an excited child.

"5 more minutes," I groaned, still sitting up.

"Come on you two!" Cato called, laughing from the other side of the fire. I winced against the harsh morning light as spied our alliance eating eggs. "Your breakfast will get cold!" he hollered and we sat down next to Sparky who delivered our eggs to us. We gulped them down and washed up by the lake before returning to grab our weapons and head out into the forest to hunt some tributes.

We set out in the early morning and pretty much gave up by midday, so we began to set up traps, snares and nets around our area to catch us any food or tributes. Cato, to put it lightly, was annoyed and sulked at the back of the group as I led them towards our camp with Clove and Marvel behind me. We all stormed back into camp and Cato immediately went to tear the pyramid down. Annoyed with his childish behaviour, I formulated a plan in my head and grinned widely. When he finally stopped raging as he reached the foot of the pyramid, I snuck up behind him and took his sword from his sheath.

"Opal!" he yelped, spinning around with a feral look in his eyes.

I was already tearing down the hill towards the lake, laughing my head off. From behind me, I heard Cato swearing as he began to run after me and the rest of the alliance began to laugh their heads off. The lake became closer and closer and as soon as I reached it, I swung the sword as hard as I could and threw it into the lake. Next thing I knew, Cato charged into me and I flew backwards, before splashing into the lake. The water was cold and came as a shock. As I broke the surface, I blinked the water out of my eyes and gasped for breath. Cato waded past me, searching for his sword and on the bank; Marvel, Clove and Peeta were laughing their heads off.

As I spluttered and coughed, I paddled to the bank and found myself at Clove's feet. Grinning, I quickly wrapped my hand around her boot and pulled her in too. With a squeal, she landed next to me and Sparky and Bridget leapt in after her. Cato was still looking for his sword and Clove and Bridget helped him search for it. I splashed Sparky as Peeta awkwardly paddled away from us. As I spun around, I noticed that Marvel was missing. Instantly, panic shot through me. Where was he? Did we let our defences down too soon? Had another tribute got him? I kicked towards the bank where all of our weapons now lay (apart from the missing sword), when suddenly, a pair of arms encircled my waist and I was yanked underwater. Instead of being mad, I laughed as my head broke the surface. I spun around and came face to face with Marvel who was roaring with laughter. His hair was mused and soaking wet and his shirt stuck to his chest. Determined to get revenge on him, I threw myself at him and threw us both underwater.

We stayed in the lake for most of the afternoon and swam around, splashed and just generally messed around. I was pretty certain that the Gamemakers were pretty annoyed with us as we were having fun and not getting on with the killing. This thought wiped the genuine smile off of my face and I swam towards the bank, however Marvel pulled me in the opposite direction, going deeper into the lake. When we were further out than the others, he paused and cupped my cheeks in his water-wrinkled hands.

"What's wrong?" he asked quietly.

I paused and glanced around. "I'm scared that the Gamemakers are going to do something to bring us all together and-"I stopped and bit my lip.

"And?" he prompted.

"And I'm scared that I'm going to lose you," I whispered back, ducking my head. His hands pulled me back up and he gently pressed a kiss to my lips. I returned it enthusiastically and after a minute, we broke apart and pressed our heads together as we watched the sun begin to sink over the horizon.

We gently swam together to the bank where the rest of the alliance was relaxing. We all got out and built a large fire where we cooked some food that sponsors sent to us whilst our clothes dried, still on our bodies. Once we were done, we all broke off into separate groups and I lay looking up at the stars with Marvel. We exchanged a few words as I lay with my head on his chest as we stared towards the sky. I didn't want the moment to end at all. However, I didn't know that the next few days would be some of the worst of my whole life.

~X~

**DUN DUN DUN! Left it on a slight cliffy there! Thanks for reading guys! Hoped you enjoyed this one! Hopefully the next update will be sooner than this one was! XD**

**Until next time…**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys! Enjoyed the snacks from last time? I bet you all did! For now, we are saying a quick goodbye to any happiness! You'll see why this chapter! Action, fluff, anger and adventure (as well as some screaming too!) Have I got another cliffy for you… maybe… anyways! *Shifty eyes* Special thanks and shout outs go to: Dr Moustachio Girl and TheOldDuir. Thanks guys! Read on!**

_**Disclaimer**__**: **_**I do not own The Hunger Games; only my own ideas and characters!**

**Chapter 9**

~X~

I woke up the next morning, bright and awake- ready to go and hunt. Marvel and Clove were exchanging words near the fire and I stretched as I made my way over to them. Clove nodded enthusiastically towards me and Marvel smiled widely as I sat down next to him and we shared a long, lingering kiss. Grinning, I ate the fresh apples that we had found yesterday and stretched my neck. We simply talked for a while before Cato announced that we would be heading out again, leaving Sparky to guard all of our supplies. We set out as the sun climbed above the trees in a slow desperation to reach its highest point in the sky. We all trudged along, Peeta and Bridget bringing up the rear as Cato and Marvel led us all ahead. Suddenly, Clove paused and I stopped.

"What is it Clove?" I asked quickly.

"Shhh!" she hissed, holding up her hand and the rest of the alliance halted in their tracks. "Just stop and shut up!"

I exchanged glances with Bridget and Peeta when Marvel spoke up. "Really Clove?"

Suddenly, flames descended from above us and screams and yells sounded as we all dove out of the way. The flaming branches rained down on where we had been moments ago. Bridget and Cato winced as some of the flames must have brushed them. I was kneeling up in an instant and crawled to Marvel's side. He was mostly unscathed, a few twigs in his hair and a scrape on his cheek. I let out a long sigh of relief and rocked back on my heels, noticing the wall of fire beginning to build up near us.

"We need to get out of here," I coughed as smoke began to build up. The other didn't argue and followed me as I began to lead them towards the river. After several minutes, we finally broke through some bushes and branches, to find ourselves near the rocky river. As we paced along the stones, I kept my ears and eyes open just in case the Gamemakers wanted to send us some more fire. Suddenly, a splash sounded from the river and we all whipped our heads around nearly in synchronisation. "What was that?" I asked as we began to head towards the bank and Cato took the lead.

"It's' her!" Marvel cheered, pointing with his free hand. I followed the path that his finger was pointing at and a feral grin came over my face. It was Katniss!

She caught sight of us and her eyes widened like a panicked animal. She floundered to the other side of the river and pulled herself out as we all began to jog towards her, rapidly gaining speed. We all jumped across several stones as fast as we could in order to keep up with her. She was fast; I had to give her that! I began to overtake Clove, Peeta and Bridget as I sprinted directly behind Cato and Marvel. I could see a dark braid slightly in front of them, trying to run as fast as they could go, however I could see her putting most of her weight on one side of her body. She was injured. Good! That would slow her down! However, none of us expected her to begin scaling a tree at a rapid pace. When we all reached the foot of her tree, we all called up to her, mocking and teasing her.

"There she is!"

"Got you now, Girl on Fire!"

"There's nowhere to run, princess!"

She continued her panicked scramble and seated herself on a high branch, before glancing down at us. I gave her my evillest grin and waved mockingly as she merely blinked down at us.

"Kill her Cato!" Clove encouraged as we watched the blonde begin to climb the tree, sword in hand. I desperately wanted to be the one going after her, but as long as she was dead, that was all that mattered to me. Cato clambered upwards as we all cheered from the ground.

"Come on! Come on! Come on!"

"Kill her Cato! Kill her!"

"Come on!"

Suddenly, the branch that he grabbed snapped and he came crashing to the floor at our feet. Determined not to look weak, he leapt to his feet, eye blazing. I shoved him aside and yanked the silver bow free.

"Never mind!" I hissed. "I'll kill her myself!" I released my first arrow; however it missed as she ducked her head out of the way. I bit my lip. That was a perfect shot! Stupid bow! I released two more, but only one hit the tree near her head. She yanked it free and waved it teasingly above her head and I allowed my nostrils to flare as I threw myself at the tree and made an attempt to climb it. However, strong hands pulled me down as soon as I had grabbed onto my third handhold and I flailed around as Marvel put me on my feet. I was seething with rage and glared up at him.

"Don't even think of wasting your life to kill her, Opal," he reasoned, and I crossed my arms huffing as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"Maybe you should throw up the sword!" Katniss called and my hands balled into fists.

"Let's just wait her out," Peeta suggested and we all turned to face him. "She's got to come down at some point or she'll starve."

Cato, Marvel, Clove and I exchanged nervous looks, before Cato nodded. "Fine, somebody go and get some firewood," he agreed, glancing at Clove and Bridget who huffed and made their way deeper into the forest to find some wood. I merely stayed where I was, nostrils flaring and Marvel wrapped an arm around my shoulders. Trying to control my breathing, I angrily paced to the nearest tree and slid down so that I was sat on the cool earth. Marvel and I watched Katniss until the others got back with a measly supply of wood. We lit it with a box of matches and watched the flames lick at the dry wood and flicker, sparks spitting in the air. As the sun dipped below the horizon, we all settled down properly. Bridget was asleep against a tree and Cato kept putting his sword in the flames of the fire, making the tip go red whilst Clove threw her knives at a lizard, pinning it to the ground. Meanwhile, I sat by the fire as Marvel lay by my side- we were scheduled to take the last watch and decided to get as much sleep as we could. I lay down beside him and snuggled up to his arm.

We lay in silence as stared up at the stars and slowly, I fell asleep.

~ _I don't want to close my eyes_

_I don't want to fall asleep_

_Cause I'd miss you babe_

_And I don't want to miss a thing_

_Cause even when I dream of you_

_The sweetest dream will never do_

_I'd still miss you babe_

_And I don't want to miss a thing_~

A crack woke me up and I realised that everybody else was asleep. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I sat up, releasing my hold on Marvel's arm. Our fire was ashes and no flames or sparks were left. I shrugged off my quiver which held the bow and arrows and kept my belt of knives and gun on me. Rolling up onto my knees, I peered up at Katniss' tree and couldn't see her. I was on my feet in an instant, eyes flashing with rage. I slid a knife out from my belt and raised it in case she would pounce on me from behind. Suddenly, I saw a flash of black amongst the familiar brown and green of the tree. Katniss was wriggled up on a narrow branch with one of Clove's knives in her hand and she was sawing at a brown blur. I only realised what it was as it fell from the branch.

A tracker jacker nest.

My mouth opened and I let lose the most terrifying scream I could muster. The nest crashed down several metres from where I stood and the mutations immediately flew out angrily from their nest. I whipped around and grabbed my jacket from the ground, watching the tracker jackers from the corner of my eyes. I sprinted for the tree before stopping and glancing back. Cato, Clove and Bridget were on their feet, but where was Marvel?! I dashed back into the fray and felt my neck get pierced by a stinger. Immediately, everything became blurred and a large brown flash hurtled into me. Bridget? We fell to the floor and I scrambled away in a daze. Another stinger became stuck in my leg and it sickeningly flopped around as though I had lost all control over it. Suddenly, I was flying… sort of. Warm arms were wrapped around me and my surroundings were a blur of green and blue. Suddenly, water washed over me and I broke the surface of the lake, panting for breath. Besides me were Clove and Marvel. Thank goodness- they were both okay. A sting was in Marvel's cheek and Clove pulled one free from the back of her hand. I glanced at the bank to see Cato sprinting for the trees and I realised that Peeta and Bridget weren't with us.

Clove and Marvel crawled out of the lake and Marvel lifted me from the water as I lay helplessly on the bank. I couldn't make out the words that they were making, but within a minute, I was back in Marvel's arms and my limbs swung dead-like. Several minutes later, we were back by the cornucopia and I was lying down in a sleeping bag next to the fire. Everything was blurred and I couldn't stop my limbs from violently jerking. I must have gotten some pretty bad stings. I wasn't sure what happened next to be honest. I kept seeing blood and the sky turned orange and every time I looked at Clove's face, I saw a baboon's. Cato turned up with a bloody sword and said that Bridget was dead and Peeta betrayed us. I wasn't sure if I was hallucinating or not.

We all stayed around camp (I think) and I lay dazed and hallucinating in my sleeping bag, unsure of what was going on and what was real or not real. That night, I could sort of see again and managed to fall asleep. However, I woke up as nightmares plagued me and I sobbed and wailed like an injured animal after seeing images of my family and friends all dead. Marvel tried to comfort me and promised that we would be okay; but it was then I realised that things were about to get a lot worse.

~X~

**DRAMA! Yay! XDX Please don't hate me for injuring Opal! Please! Anyways, hoped you liked this one!**

**Until next time…**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 is here! Wooo! Here's the shout outs: Dr Moustachio Girl, Guest, TheOldDuir and Behind Walls! Thanks guys! You all get fairy cakes with a mockingjay iced onto it! YAY! Enjoy this chapter! Hope you don't cry too hard… what?!**

_**Disclaimer**__**: **_**I do not own The Hunger Games; only my own ideas and characters!**

**Chapter 10**

~X~

Jolting awake, I sat up quickly to see what was left of the alliance sitting around a small fire. Cato looked tired and frustrated, Clove tired and anxious and Marvel was exhausted and looked in pain. I shuffled out of my sleeping bag and my head spun when I finally got to my feet. Stumbling towards where they all sat, I saw birds fly overhead and the sun was directly above us. It was midday already? As I winced and sat down next to them, they all filled me in on what I'd missed. Peeta had betrayed us and Katniss had got away, however Cato managed to slice Peeta's leg to ribbons. Bridget was dead and I had got the worst stings out of the whole group. My hand instinctively went to my stung leg and it gently shook when I put too much pressure on it. Marvel instantly shuffled to my side and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. He consoled me and he watched as Sparky, Clove and Cato practised with their weapons for the rest of the day. By the evening, I could walk on my leg again, although it stung viciously.

The next day, I was able to jog again and we headed out for a hunt, leaving Sparky behind again. Our traps produced only a small rabbit which I carried on my belt by a piece of string. I felt so naked without my bow and arrows, even though they weren't accustomed to me. It was at noon that Marvel halted in his tracks. His sleeves were rolled up and his hand instinctively tightened around his spear. I yanked a knife free from my belt and gazed around. Suddenly, the ginger girl from District 5 stumbled out from the bushes to our left. Her blue eyes widened and she immediately took off running back the way that she had come.

"Get her!" Clove screeched and together, she and I tore through the bushes. Despite my leg injury, I still overtook Clove and saw the ginger girl sprint away. After another few minutes, we had completely lost her and we jogged back to Cato and Marvel who had been waiting for us. Nothing. Frustrated and angry, we returned to camp and Clove sat with her head on Cato's shoulder. To vent my anger, I practised my knife fighting with Sparky who seemed terrified and barely managed to dodge my moves. When he lay panting on the grass, I called it a day and skinned the rabbit as the sun fell below the sky. Cato, Marvel and I roasted it over a fire as Sparky got Clove's help to finally put his plan into action. The mines below our pedestals had been dug up by him whilst we were hunting and he placed them around our pyramid of supplies. He and Clove dotted them around and we all memorised the location of the mines before settling down to eat our measly meal.

I slept with minimal nightmares next to Marvel. We had been in the Games for a week now, going onto our 8th day and we were both still alive. There was still hope. I woke up the next day to hear a crack of a twig at the edge of the clearing. I leapt to my feet as the District 10 boy ran out from the trees, heading towards our supplies. If he set off a mine, he would kill us all! He pulled an axe free and hefted it up. I yelled at the alliance who woke and scrambled to their feet. He threw the axe at Clove who ducked with a scream and Cato readied his sword to kill the boy who nearly killed his District partner. The axe became embedded in the ground and I finally threw my knife at his head. Blood spurted forwards and his body convulsed violently. I knelt next to him and yanked it free before slitting his throat for good measure. The canon went off and minutes later the hovercraft came and carried him away. Nobody seemed moved by the death and we continued our day like normal. Two hours later, Sparky leapt to his feet and pointed towards a spiral of smoke on the horizon over some trees.

"Stay here," Marvel ordered him and we all scooped up our weapons and charged towards the source of the fire. We all whooped as we ran; finally ready to get ourselves a better chance at winning the games. We reached a dying fire before I spotted another one and we charged after that one. When we finally reached it, we saw the small girl from 11 scrambling away in the trees. Cato and Clove ran after her, but she got away.

"Hang on a second," I paused. "Why would she make two fires?" I asked.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang and fear grew in all of our eyes. Marvel and I dashed back to the camp, Clove and Cato hot on our heels before we reached the clearing. Our pyramid had been blown up and a dazed Sparky stood where the mines used to be. Instantly Clove and I ran to the pile and searched through it, only to find charred remains. Marvel stood dazed behind us as Cato rounded on Sparky.

"How did you let this happen?!" he roared, dropping his sword to the floor.

"I don't know! The girl from 5 managed to get past and I chased her, but she got away," he sobbed. "I'm sorry! Please!" Sparky begged.

I turned around too late, only to see Cato gripping Sparky's neck and twisting it. He fell to the ground dead and I quickly turned back to the remains and spotted something silver. I plucked a silver arrow from a half-blasted apple and glared at it.

"Katniss," I hissed, holding the arrow up so that the light caught it. "She must have stolen my bow and used it against us!" I hissed and threw it back into the pile.

We all calmed down and let the hovercraft take Sparky's corpse away before salvaging what we could form the pile. We managed to save a couple of backpacks, some spears, an axe, and some bags of food and a crate of medicine. That night, we went hungry and waited for day to break before we went to check our traps for tributes or fresh meat. That night, Clove and Cato took watch and woke me and Marvel up for the last watch and morning patrol. When we set out, I yawned and stumbled along- tired and groggy, however Marvel was wide awake. We checked the traps near the river and further away, leaving the slightly closer ones to camp for later. It took us about an hour to check the biggest one and we found only a trail of feathers leading away from the trap.

Suddenly, we heard a scrambling sound and Marvel's eyes gleamed. Jogging quickly, we peered into a meadow to see the girl from 11 stuck in a net. Rue, I think her name was. She was screaming for her ally, Katniss. We waited in the trees, before Marvel stepped out.

"What are you doing?!" I hissed.

"Putting her out of her misery," he replied lowly, approaching the girl.

However, he ducked behind a tree as the girl screamed.

"Katniss! Katniss!"

"Rue!" the reply was screamed, getting increasingly closer and closer. "Rue! I'm coming!"

Katniss sprinted out from the undergrowth and fell to Rue's side, slicing her net open. She embraced the girl and I watched Marvel raise his spear. Rue screamed and pushed Katniss aside and the spear entered the little girl's stomach. Everything happened so quickly. Katniss turned as I broke my cover and threw myself at Marvel as the silver arrow was released from the bow. We collided as the arrow hurtled towards us and we collapsed into the leaf pile as our enemy turned back to the girl. Forgetting them, I waited to feel the pain from the arrow- yet it never came. We must have missed it! I grabbed Marvel's hand and we dashed from the scene and into the woods. My adrenaline was pumping and I didn't realise that we were leaving a trail of blood. Marvel was slow and I practically dragged him along behind me. When we were a couple of minutes away, I paused and turned a light smile on my face. However it was quickly wiped off.

There was the silver arrow.

In his chest.

Bleeding heavily.

His blue eyes slid closed and he collapsed to the ground.

"Marvel!" I screamed in pure terror. I dropped to his side and grabbed his head. "No! Don't you dare do this! Look at me!"

His eyes fluttered open and a light sheen of sweat covered his body. My breath came in shallow pants as I yanked off my jacket and wrapped it around the arrow to stop the bleeding. No, no, no, no, no. This couldn't be happening! In a daze, I wrapped his arm around my shoulder and we stumbled back to camp. It was a long and painful journey filled with swearing and cursing. When we finally reached camp, I was on the verge of collapsing as tears and sweat fell down my face.

Clove and Cato immediately darted to my side and took him from me. I fell to my knees and gazed down at my hands. They were covered in his blood. My whole form shook and I let exhaustion overwhelm me and I fell to the grass, closing my eyes.

~X~

**What have I done?! Don't kill me yet! Until next time…**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	11. Chapter 11

**Here comes chapter number 11! YAY! Sorry about last time guys- hope you didn't use up your supply of tissues for this story, cause trust me… you'll need them later on! Anyways *wide smile*, shout outs go the following lovely people: Dr Moustachio Girl and TheOldDuir! YAY! Thanks guys! Hope you all like this quick update! Yipee!**

_**Disclaimer**__**: **_**I do not own The Hunger Games; only my own ideas and characters!**

**Chapter 11**

~X~

I was woken up by the feeling of water trickling down my forehead. As my eyes opened, I saw Cato's face and the stars twinkling in the night sky next to a full moon. I wanted to get up from where I was, however my stiff limbs prevented me from moving straight away. I lay still for a minute as Cato dabbed a wet rag to my head and I licked my cracked lips. "What happened?" I croaked.

"You and Marvel were gone for about two hours and when you came back, he was shot in the chest and you collapsed. Clove's with him right now and you've been out all day," he explained. I awkwardly got to my feet and awkwardly hobbled towards the campfire where I found Marvel and Clove. Clove was pressing a cloth to his bare chest which was slick with blood. The bloody arrow lay a metre away and so did his jacket and shirt which were also drenched in blood. The memories swarmed back to me and I fell to his side.

"Marvel," I urged, placing a cool hand on his hot skin.

"He's resting right now," Clove half- whispered. "He lost a lot of blood and we need some tools to keep him going."

I threw my head to the sky, searching for a parachute. "Come on!" I screamed to the sky. "He needs this!" I called.

Several minutes later, the silver parachute dropped from the sky and landed beside us. It was a large satchel and I wrenched it free from the parachute, dropping the note as I ripped it open. Inside were bandages, medical supplies and other tools I hadn't seen before. Clove grabbed them and immediately started to work on Marvel. She stitched the wound shut and had me hold up Marvel's chest and head as she wrapped bandages around his torso. We cleaned him up and somehow, he fell asleep. However this was the least of our worries. He shook as he dreamt and sweat poured off of him.

"Fever," Cato announced and I bit my lip as I dragged my tired fingers through his damp hair.

"We need to move camp," I suggested lightly. Cato narrowed his eyes. "We're too exposed here and we can't protect him," I pleaded and his eyes remained stony and so I narrowed my puffy eyes. "You would do the same if Clove was dying in front of you."

That was all he needed to hear. Wordlessly, Clove gathered what we had salvaged from the pyramid and Cato and I set to work making a stretcher so that we could carry Marvel. We set out in the middle of the night, Clove in the lead with the supplies and Cato and I carrying Marvel behind her. After an hour of looking at possible places where we could make camp, we decided to select a clearing that was tucked away and surrounded by bushes. We lined the perimeter with twigs so that anybody sneaking up on us would alert us of their presence quickly. We immediately started a fire and put everything away, setting up a small tent that Cato had found in the wreckage, however it was still makeable. We stashed what we could in the tent and let Clove treat Marvel's wounds. We kept watch until she crawled out of the tent and I offered her a small can of soup which I had heated over the fire. She thanked me and slurped greedily at it and I stared at her in awe.

"Where did you learn all of that healing stuff?" I asked her.

She shrugged. "I've always been curious and I've picked up stuff from my grandmother who was into this whole healing stuff."

I nodded. "Is he awake?" I asked.

"No. He's sleeping. But you could watch over him and make sure that his temperature stays constant and that his bandages are changed if needed."

Thanking her again, I crawled into the tent and sat beside Marvel, gently stroking his forehead. I dozed off around midnight and woke up several hours later to continue watching over him. Outside, Cato kept watch whilst Clove lay in his lap asleep. Marvel's hair was a damp, curly mess and he seemed thin as ever. His body was damp with sweat and the light shirt that we had managed to slide over his head was stuck to his body. I soothingly whispered words of comfort and wiped his forehead with the damp rag. His breath was deep and relaxed and this gave me comfort. I smiled gently as his hand moved and this gave me hope. I picked it up and traced the lines of his palms.

"It's going to be okay," I whispered and his hand tightened around mine, however he stayed asleep. To make myself feel better, I gently spoke to him. "You know, I don't regret telling you how I feel about you. Not at all. I feel glad cause if I die and you make it through, then you'll always know how I really felt for you," I paused, biting my lip. "I'm not sure… but I think I love you," I halted right there and blinked furiously as tears began to fall from my puffy eyes. "No. I'm wrong," I smiled gently. "I know that I love you."

I snuggled up to his side and breathed deeply, flitting in and out of sleep. Clove properly woke me up as dawn broke, telling me that her and Cato would be out all day and that I was in charge of camp. I sat by the small fire with the tent flap open and absent-mindedly ate an apple. I flicked the core into the fire as there was a rustle from the tent. I leapt to my feet and whirled around, knife in hand, as I saw Marvel awkwardly shuffling out of the tent. I tucked my knife away and let my jaw drop. I rushed to his side and helped him sit by the fire. He winced slightly as we rubbed some cream on his wound. After re-dressing his bandages, I gave him some food and water before he sat by my side in silence.

"What do you remember?" I asked him.

"Well, Katniss shot me and you half shoved me out of the way. We were heading back to camp and then everything's a blur," he nodded through the pain. "Were you hurt?"

"No," I replied bluntly and we stared at one another before I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss. My fingers tangled in his hair as one of his arms slowly wound around my waist. We broke apart and I let our noses brush together, when I noticed the pained look in his eyes. I pulled away and offered him several tablets and a bottle of water and he gulped down both.

Clove and Cato returned later on and both had a nap as Marvel and I kept watch. Every hour, he seemed to be growing stronger and stronger. This gave me confidence as this increased his chance of winning. He'd be okay. However I knew it was a matter of time before I would be killed. But he could make it. I knew it.

As the sun began to sink below the sky, we all ate dried meat and fruit and Cato and I filled the bottles up with fresh water from the river. We returned back to camp as Clove changed Marvel's bandages. All signs of the fever were going; however he still remained slightly weak from his wound that prevented him from holding nay weapon properly. If he was caught alone, he would be done for. As I gloomily munched on dried apricots, I kicked some leaves into the fire, when suddenly the Capitol anthem began to play and we all raised our heads to the sky.

"Attention tributes. Attention. The regulation acquiring a single victor has been suspended. From now on, two victors may be crowned if both originate from the same district. This will be the only announcement,"

My eyes widened and I locked gazes with Marvel. His hand instantly moved to his spear which was resting by his side. My hand closed down on my knife as I prepared to fight my way out of the camp. Cato and Clove didn't move and I narrowed my eyes. We all stood, sat or lay in silence for several minutes before Cato got to his feet.

"Well, I guess this is where the alliance ends," he sighed. He met my eyes and smiled sadly. "We'll let you stay until Marvel's well enough to travel. Then you two can do whatever you want. We'll be enemies."

"Fair enough," Marvel nodded and crawled backwards into the tent, hand closed around his spear. I jerked my head in a quick nod and sprinted into the tent after him.

~ _I don't want to miss one smile_

_I don't want to miss one kiss_

_I just want to be with you_

_Right here with you, just like this_

_I just want to hold you close_

_Feel your heart so close to mine_

_And just stay here in this moment_

_For all the rest of time Yeah yeah yeah_~

By the next afternoon, Marvel's fever was almost gone and Cato announced that it was time for us to move on. We equally divided the remaining supplies between us before Cato nodded and said goodbye to us. Clove walked us into the woods as we left, backpack on my back and tent dragging behind Marvel who could walk with my help. She seemed upset that we were leaving and tried to get Cato and I to change our minds, however we were both dead set on it.

"Please Opal. Just think about it," she begged. "We're all stronger together and you know it!"

"Come with us Clove," Marvel suggested.

"And leave Cato?" she shook her head. "No. I couldn't," she sighed. "I guess I'll be seeing you both soon." And with that she turned and walked back to her camp.

We continued to walk for most of the afternoon, occasionally taking breaks so that Marvel could get his breath back. As clouds began to cover the sun in the middle of the afternoon, Marvel pointed out a tree that was well concealed and large. I climbed up a few metres to see that the trees branches were all clustered together and I had Marvel throw supplies up and I tied our sleeping bags from the branches like hammocks and securely stowed our backpack and food and tent in the branches above our heads. I draped the tent over our sleeping bags so if the rain fell through, we would still be dry. I managed to help Marvel climb up the tree and as the sun set, we ate a bag of nuts between us and climbed into our sleeping bags. Marvel agreed to take the second watch and I finally fell asleep for the first proper time in a couple of days and I was only haunted by several nightmares. However- I had a horrible feeling in my gut, like when the tracker jackers had attacked, that something was going to be happening soon. And I couldn't tell whether it was good or bad.

~X~

**Well, I didn't kill him! Yay! Yet… what?! I didn't say anything! Well, what are your thoughts on this chapter? Until next time…**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	12. Chapter 12

**The next chapter is here! Yipee! We've got some fluff pretty early on in the chapter. Can I hear you all silently screaming! I think so! I looked to the book Divergent for some inspiration as well as one of my OTPs: Fourtris to write the fluff. This was also my first Beta'd chapter. Thanks and massive shout out to Unchanging Queen of Magyk! Thanks so much! Shout outs go to: Dr Moustachio Girl and TheOldDuir!**

_**Disclaimer**__**: **_**I do not own The Hunger Games; only my own ideas and characters!**

**Chapter 12**

~X~

For the next day, we stayed in the tree and Marvel was still weak. We needed medicine and some proper food. So I headed out with his spear and set up some traps and tried to spear a bird or small mammal, however I only came back to our new camp with a tiny bird that was near enough destroyed by the spear. Yet I cooked what I could and gave it all to Marvel, claiming that I had already eaten. He didn't seem too sure of that, however he still ate and seemed to gain some strength back. What we really needed were some pills to make him stronger and heal faster. The capitol had what we needed, however they didn't seem to want to give us what we needed. It was then that I remembered our situation and Gloss' advice to use our relationship to our advantage.

When he was finished eating, I sat with my head resting on his shoulder and let him run his fingers through my knotted hair. Biting my lip, I decided on how I was going to draw our sponsors' attention. Pushing down my nerves, I turned my head and kissed the corner of his mouth gently. He returned the kiss, this time capturing my lips with his. I wrapped an arm around his neck and got to my knees as his hands went from my cheeks to rest on my hips. We remained glued together as I slowly worked my legs so that I sat straddling his waist. Our movements became more urgent as my hands moved from his neck up to his hair. I knotted my fingers in his curls and grinned- the audience must be beside themselves. There'd never seen anything like this in the games before. I just hoped that this was enough of a call to them to help us. Give us stuff and we'd give a good performance in the games. But how far was I willing to go?

As Marvel's hands worked on my jacket and slowly pulled it from my shoulders, I suddenly became extremely nervous. Had he forgotten that every single move that we made was being watched by hundreds of people? My jacket fell to one side as I introduced my tongue into the kiss and ran my hands down his chest. My body shook with nerves and excitement as one of his hands crawled under my shirt. His warm skin ghosted along my stomach and worked up. That was my limit. I pulled away and looked down, not wanting to meet his eyes. We remained in our awkward position, gasping for breath and I waited to hear the parachute drop. Within a minute, I looked up to see his blue eyes wide and his jaw was slack as he stared at me in shock. We'd never really been that far before and it was a bit of a shock to both of us. I got up slowly and straightened out my shirt and hair before climbing down the tree and grabbing the parachute. In it was a hot pot of soup and fresh bandages and painkillers for Marvel. Smiling silently, I read Gloss' note attached to it.

_Well done. Keep going you two and keep at what you're doing! ~Gloss_

I clambered back up the tree and showed a recovered Marvel what had been sent to us. We decided to change his bandages first and he swiftly removed his shirt and I peeled the bandages away from his skin to reveal the wound. It was angry looking and the skin at the edge of the hole was puckered which I could see despite Clove's excellent stitching skills. I rubbed a balm on it to help it heal faster and he winced at the pain. Once that was done, he sat up and helped me re-bandage his chest. He sighed in relief when I was done and I pressed a reassuring kiss to his bare shoulder before pulling away and opening the pot of soup. It was steaming and we had to wait a while for it to be the right temperature. It was chicken and tasted divine. Once we had gulped it down, I set to work on sharpening my knives whilst Marvel did the same with his spear and a sword kindly given to us by Cato. As the night began to creep in, the capitol anthem began to play.

"Attention, tributes. Attention. Commencing at sunrise, there will be a feast tomorrow at the Cornucopia. This will be no ordinary occasion, each of you needs something desperately and we plan to be generous hosts,"

I blinked as I took in the message. We could probably get some food and better medicine. My head immediately whirled around and Marvel gulped.

"Opal, I can't go like this. They'll hack me to pieces," he began. "But if you go alone I can't protect you-"

"I don't need you to protect me all of the time," I shot back and he frowned. "Sorry," I instantly bit back. "I know what the feast is for Marvel. But if I die there, then I'll take down as many of them with me to give you a better chance at winning."

"Okay," he replied. "You can go, but if you're not back by sunset tomorrow night then I'll come to find you," he said and bit his lip and I simply nodded. "You get some sleep and I'll keep watch," he suggested and opened his arms which I gladly crawled into. I fell asleep and dreamt of home before I woke up as the moon hung high in the sky.

"I guess that I'm off now," I smiled lightly and got to my feet.

"Wait," he protested and held up his spear which I gripped and took from his hands. He grabbed a fistful of my shirt and pulled me down so that our lips crashed together in a rushed kiss. When we pulled away, he had a solemn expression on his face. "Please remember to stay safe and remember everything from training. Don't go in unless you know you'll be okay."

I nodded before staring deep into his eyes and saying, "I love you."

He seemed startled and gulped before kissing me once more quickly. "I love you too."

Those four words made my heart flutter madly and my lips trembled as I fought down tears. "I'll see you tomorrow," I promised and with that I climbed down the tree and set off without a glance back at the tree.

I walked for most of the night, stopping only occasionally to catch my breath. Jogging along, I zipped up my jacket and grasped Marvel's spear tightly in my hand. I continued to do this until the dark sky began to fade and a bright light took its place. As dawn began to break, I reached the site of our old camp to find that the horn was empty and the charred remains of our camp were gone. In its place was a table with several backpacks on it. There was a _12, 11, 5, 2_ and_ 1_. Our bag was about a medium size compared to the others. There had to be at least one person from each District coming to get the packs. For 12 it had to be Katniss, 11 could only be Thresh, 5 was the ginger girl. For 2, it was probably Cato who had come to kill the rest of. And for 1- well, that was me. I prepared to run out before everybody else; however the ginger girl shot out of the cornucopia and grabbed her backpack and fled as I waited. I rolled my eyes at her stupidity before getting ready to go. However I halted as Katniss burst out of a bush slightly to my right and ran for her pack. I readied my spear, ready to take revenge on her, but a black blur stopped me. That black uniform was for the District 2 tributes. Cato! But this shape was more lithe and shorter. I only realised that it was Clove when she collided with Katniss.

If this was my only chance I had to take it. I ran as fast I could for the table as Clove and Katniss were distracted by one another.

"Opal!" Clove called and I whirled around, pack on my back and snarl on my face. "Come on! Let's get revenge!" she hissed and she nodded, showing that our alliance was still intact. She turned back to Katniss who was struggling beneath her. "Where's lover boy? Oh, I see. You were gunna help him. Well that's sweet! Well, it's too bad that you couldn't help your little friend. That little girl, what was her name again? Rue? Yeah, well we killed her. And now, we're gunna kill you," she smiled and turned to me. "What've you got to say to her Opal?"

My face became murderous as I pulled a knife free and traced Katniss' face with it. "You honestly didn't think that stealing the bow from me would help you?" I asked in a sickly sweet voice. "Yes you shot Marvel, but he's still alive," I smirked and Katniss' face was priceless. A look of mock shock found itself onto my face. "Oh! You didn't actually think that you'd killed him… did you? Big shocker there."

I grinned evilly as Clove's knife headed towards Katniss' bare throat, when suddenly a large weight collided with me. It was Thresh! He pinned me against the cornucopia and held me by the throat. "You kill her?" he snarled.

"No!" I screamed in terror. This boy was about to kill me. "Clove! Help!"

The girl screamed and kicked Katniss aside before leaping at Thresh and somehow knocked him aside. In my adrenaline pumped state, I grabbed my fallen spear and sprinted for the trees, backpack still swinging from my back. When I reached the edge of the clearing, I spun around and could see Thresh holding Clove where I had been moments ago. "You killed Rue!" Thresh screamed.

"No! Cato! Cato!" she yelled and thrashed against his muscle. He was prepared his time. He threw her body back as hard as possible and my eyes widened as Clove's lifeless body dropped to the ground. She was dead. My breath came in shallow pants and the canon sounded. Marvel probably thought that it was me. Marvel. I sprinted through the woods towards our new camp and didn't stop, even when my legs ached and my lungs ached. My throat became dry and I felt sick. But I had to keep running. Thresh could be coming after me. Or Cato. Or Katniss. I had to find Marvel. I continued to run and run and I lost track of time.

I felt relief as I broke through familiar trees and skidded to a halt at the bottom of our tree. My breaths were loud and I dropped to my knees. My head spun and I thought I heard somebody call my name. "Opal. Opal. Opal," That was the last thing I heard before everything went fuzzy and my head collided with a pile of golden leaves and I lost consciousness.

~X~

**She survived the feast! YAY! But Clove's dead! :'( Oh no! what'll happen next?! Well, until next time…**

**REVIEW!  
\/\/\/**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 has arrived! YAY! I'm really sorry about the long wait! I've been working on my exam revision and my blog! Sorry again! I worked out that we have a few days left in the arena, and I'm going to get to the end of the Games ASAP! *Gasp* But will our District 1 star-crossed lovers make it out alive?! Shout outs go to: Dr Moustachio Girl, TheOldDuir and Jabberjays! YAY! Oh and a big thanks to Unchanging Queen of Magyk for her excellent Beta-ing skills! Read on!**

_**Disclaimer**__**: **_**I do not own The Hunger Games; only my own ideas and characters!**

**Chapter 13**

~X~

"Opal," a gentle voice woke me up as I slowly opened my eyes and found my arms restricted. Panic flooded my system, however I found that I was in my sleeping bag and my jacket was removed and Marvel was leant over me with worried eyes. "Thank gods, sweet cheeks! You really had me worried there!"

Groaning as my muscles and joints ached; I slowly sat up and winced. Marvel tackled me with a hug and I blinked in surprise. "How long have I been out?" I croaked, licking my dry lips. I looked up at the dark sky that was filled with stars and the moon shone brightly. "A couple of hours?"

"Pretty much," he nodded and pressed a quick kiss to my temple before reaching into the backpack and pulling free a bottle of water which I gladly gulped down. "Listen, we're almost out of water, so I'm gunna head to the river and get some," he continued and I went to butt in, but he pressed one finger up against my lips. "You wait here. I need to stretch my legs."

"Okay," I replied stubbornly and sipped at some more water. "You'd better be quick."

"I will be, sweet cheeks," he grinned and grabbed his spear before ducking down his head and pressing a firm kiss to my mouth. We pulled away and he gently cradled my cheek before climbing down the tree. I watched him go with a heavy heart and smiled lightly. He seemed to be better already. Frowning to myself, I looked in the backpack that I had retrieved from the cornucopia and glanced inside. A small bottle was sat inside and had a foul-smelling brown liquid. It had to be medicine. There were also several loaves of bread that were slightly battered, however were still edible. As I glanced up at the night sky, I noticed that my jacket and necklace were sat next to me. I shrugged the jacket on and looped the necklace around my neck and stuffed it under my shirt. Suddenly, a silver parachute descended and caught in the trees near me. Grabbing the closest branch, I pulled my way up and snatched the holder. Once I was back down, I opened it to reveal several bullets for my forgotten gun. I pulled it free from the back of my trousers and opened the chamber. There were just enough bullets to fit inside. Once I loaded them in and slid the chamber shut, I began to panic. Did Marvel know about the gun? If so, what could he do about it?

I shook myself out of it and tucked it into the nearest bag as I heard the rustling of leaves. Snatching up the sword laying a meter away, I perched ready in the tree, only to see Marvel calmly walking towards me with a backpack full of water bottles. I helped him back up as the rain began to fall. That night we ate some dried meat and some berries that Marvel had picked before we settled in to sleep. We found the next morning that the rain had turned into quite a storm overnight and some of our supplies were wet. I wanted to stay in our tree, however Marvel had better ideas.

"We can go hunting!" he enthused. "Come on, sweet cheeks, nobody else will be out in weather like this!"

"Fine," I sighed and we pulled our hoods over our heads and set off. Somehow within a couple of hours, we had managed to snare a rabbit and spear a bird or two. We returned to camp and managed to get several minutes of dryness to cook the rabbit which we hungrily tore into. The rain lashed once more and the wind howled in the night like a wolf and Marvel and I curled up against one another to block the cold out. I trembled in the night and his cold arms wrapped around me to protect me from the cold and biting wind that made me ears and cheeks sting. During the announcement, we saw Thresh's picture and I couldn't help but sigh with relief. That was one more obstacle gone from keeping us from returning home. That left us still stuck in here with Cato, the ginger girl from 5, Katniss and Peeta.

We managed to get some sleep and awoke to find the rain and wind was gone, leaving a muddy arena for us. Marvel and I slid around for several hours, hunting for our fellow tributes- desperate to increase our chances of reaching home again. Home. The thought made me smile as I painted a picture in my mind of where I would be in several years' time. Marvel and I would have won the Games. I would have a house in the Victor's Village and my family would move in with me. I could have anything I wanted and any man I wanted- of course, I only wanted Marvel. We would train up new careers and make sure that they won the Games. Perhaps even one day, Marvel and I would settle down and have a family of our own…

All of these thoughts made me smile as I watched my District partner pick some blackberries from a bush. The smile was quickly wiped off of my face as the canon sounded. Marvel's green eyes met mine and we glanced to the sky as the hovercraft appeared. It pulled up a corpse and we waited anxiously. Suddenly, Marvel pointed and I spotted a mane of red hair. The girl from 5 was dead. That left us both, Katniss, Peeta and Cato. The crowds would begin to place final bets now and send in some of the best sponsor gifts that would help us live through the last few days of the Games. Once the hovercraft was gone, Marvel took my hand and led me back to the tree. We had spoken very little that day and I think we both knew that the last, and toughest, days of the Games were finally here.

~ _I don't want to close my eyes_

_I don't want to fall asleep_

_Cause I'd miss you babe_

_And I don't want to miss a thing_

_Cause even when I dream of you_

_The sweetest dream will never do_

_I'd still miss you babe_

_And I don't want to miss a thing_~

When I woke up the next morning, I felt a wave of butterflies flutter in my stomach. If I was correct, then we had been in the arena for 17 days. That was a long time- perhaps one of the longest Games yet. I sat up to see that Marvel was still asleep and I smiled gently. I raised my head to the sky and spoke. "Please. If you have any last gifts for us. Please, please, please send them today!" I waited patiently for a minute, before the familiar sound of the parachutes sounded. I scrambled out of the tree and looked up to see a large pack descend and land at my feet. I ripped it open and a note fell out.

_You're both so close to winning. We have faith in you both. Hope this helps! ~Gloss and Cashmere_

I gently opened the pack and eased out a heavy pad. I spread it out on the floor and realised that I was wrong. It wasn't a pad- it was body armour designed to fit somebody's chest. I ran my fingers over the cool material that could save our lives. That's when it hit me. There was only one. Biting my lip, I breathed in and out deeply. Of course our sponsors could only afford one. Suddenly a branch snapped form above and Marvel's head appeared.

"Opal? What've you got there?" he asked sleepily.

I clambered back up and showed him. "Body armour for you. I've already got mine on."

He nodded and thanked me before sliding it on under his jacket. He didn't ask any questions about mine and I zipped my jacket up higher. It had to be this way. He needed it more than I did. Once he had it on, we finished the last few scraps of the rabbit and cooked the birds and placed them in the food containers that we had left.

"So, what's today's plan?" he asked.

"I thought that we should go looking for the others. Like go and find them and take what we need with us," I offered.

"Yeah," he replied and met my eyes. "I guess it's we find them or they find us," he sighed. "We should only take what we really need."

I nodded and smiled gently as we set to work on emptying out our packs. We decided to leave our sleeping bags behind and all other heavy supplies. In our packs was a light blanket, our food in the containers and several water bottles. We divided the things between us and I kept the medicine and bandages in my pack. Marvel carried his trusty spear in his hand and I had several knives on my belt and a small sword hanging next to them. Of course I hadn't forgotten about my gun which was, of course, tucked where it usually was. It was loaded and ready for the next use it would get. It frightened me that it was the only gun in the Games. It must have been meant for me. Nobody else except me used it… except Marvel. As we walked along, I mulled over this. Did the Capitol want him to kill me, or worse me kill him? No. they said that there would be two winners. As I tossed the around back and forth in my mind, the sky darkened and we frowned at one another.

"What do you think's going on, Marvel?" I asked him.

"I have no idea," he whispered and took a hesitant step forwards as the sun vanished behind the horizon so that it was almost as though it was night. Everything was far too quiet. I stood by his side and pulled my knives free. "I don't think th-"

That was all he could say before a huge mass knocked us both to the ground. I scrambled to my feet and screamed at the top of my lungs. It was a mutation of a wolf or massive dog. The mutt was trying to tear at Marvel's chest, however the armour protected him and I threw my knives at its back. It stumbled away and I sprinted to Marvel's side and heaved him to his feet. Nearby barking sounded and he swayed, shock apparent in his eyes. Adrenaline rushed through my veins as I seized his spear and looked back at him. He was still in a daze. The fury and pain I had been feeling finally reached breaking point and I marched to his side and slapped him hard across the face. That woke him up. The skin instantly turned pink and his green eyes grew wider as he gripped his cheek and his jaw went slack.

"Snap out of it and run for your life!" I screamed hoarsely and he shook himself as the barks got closer and closer. Seizing my hand, we sprinted through the trees as the pounding of paws sounded not far from us, sounding like a herd of massive bulls. I took a second to look over my shoulder and I stifled a scream. All of the mutations were massive and thundered along with terrifying speed. There coats were glossy and smooth and their eyes narrowed on our frames. There were four or five charging after us and they definitely were faster than us. "Split up!" I yelled and my lungs screamed for oxygen. I dropped his hand and ran around a different tree as we split up. I forgot everything and focused on running. Running. Running. Running. Running. Running. Running.

My blood pumped and roared in my ears as my booted feet slammed over and over again against the dirty floor. My breath came in laboured pants as I placed distance between me and the mutations. Not slowing down, I gazed over my shoulder, only to see one on my tail. The others had to be going after Marvel! Growling, I threw my last knife over my shoulder and yanked my sword free. The mutation pounced and roared in my face as it sprung forwards and its gaping maw headed towards my face. I ducked and as it passed over me, I raked the sword along its belly and felt blood squirt over me. Ripping the metal free, the mutt fell with a thump and sprawled to the ground. Heaving and panting, I caught my breath again and looked closer at the mutt. It had glossy black fur and its dead eyes were wide and hazel with green and brown flecks in them. It was then that I noticed the studded collar around its neck. In my closer inspection, I scrambled back in horror. There was a red number 2 on the crude material and it hit me. It was Clove. My bloodied hand came to cover my mouth as I dropped my sword to one side. I had killed my old ally whose DNA had been used to come and kill me. My breathing came in small pants as the tears threatened to spill.

"Opal!" Marvel's voice screamed.

"Marvel!" I screamed instinctively. Forgetting the body of my ally and the sword, I sprinted in the direction that I had heard his voice. After several minutes, I skidded to a halt and narrowed my eyes. The mutts were snapping beneath a tree and I could see the glint of body armour in the moonlight. Marvel had climbed the highest tree that he could climb and was waiting for me. I let out a cry of happiness; however the mutts spun around and growled at me. Marvel was screaming at me to run, however I ground my teeth and finally pulled out my gun. Sensing a threat, two of them charged forwards, jaws wide and I gripped my weapon and fired. My mark was accurate as a bullet embedded itself into each of their skulls. That left two mutts left. The adrenaline continued to pulse through me as I charged at the tree and threw myself at it. Scrambling like a crazed animal, I climbed higher and higher. Marvel's outstretched hand was within reach, however a pair of slavering jaws locked around the back of my jacket and pulled me down a fair distance. Infuriated and terrified, I shot another bullet behind me and the mutt whimpered, letting me go. I seized Marvel's hand in mine which was still slick with blood and pulled myself up the last metre. I panted for breath as we watched the mutts circle beneath our tree. I focused on our breathing and slowly released my stiff grip on the gun. If I was right, then there were only two bullets left to use. I rested my head against the branches behind me and let out a long sigh. This was going to be a long night.

~X~

**Dun dun dun! One more day left in the arena! What will happen?! Let me know your ideas! **

**Until next time…**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	14. Chapter 14

**This is the last chapter in the arena! Wow! Hope you all enjoy it! Tears will be shed! Mwahahahaha! Shout outs go to: TheOldDuir for the reviews! You get a slice of whatever pie you like best. Of course thanks go to Unchanging Queen of Magyk for her awesome Beta skills which I would be lost without! Read on guys!**

_**Disclaimer**__**: **_**I do not own The Hunger Games; only my own ideas and characters!**

**Chapter 14**

~X~

We sat in the tree, cramped up against one another and an odd silence hung in the air as we waited for the mutts to return. Blinking furiously, I turned my head to see Marvel staring at me, however when our eyes met, he turned away. Shame, guilt and fury all built up and I shed my jacket and threw it to the ground. Nothing. Marvel sighed and I narrowed my eyes. "Marvel-"I began.

"Just don't Opal," he snapped and I bit my lip. "You lied to me about the body armour and you've had a gun this whole time. You could have shot Cato in the back about a dozen times or you could have shot Katniss for shooting at me!" he hissed angrily and I felt the tears build up in my eyes. He was right. "Thanks for letting me know Opal!"

I swallowed hard and shifted awkwardly. "I should go then. If you really feel that way. I was just doing it for you," I replied and awkwardly gripped and branch and prepared myself to swing down. However his hand clamped down hard on my taut shoulder and I looked back up at him. His emerald eyes were wide and I could see the pain in their depths.

"Wait. I'm sorry for overreacting. I just wish that you would have told me," he whispered and his grip became tighter as he pulled me back up. All of the pain I'd been feeling recently had been tucked away and that was when the dam broke. The warm, salty tears fell hard and fast down my cheeks and I openly sobbed into his chest, mumbling about how sorry I was. We remained glued together for about an hour before a canon sounded and the mutts ran past out tree, clearly wanting nothing to do with us. They dove into a bush and everything went silent. The Gamemakers made Cato's image appear in the sky and then the sun came up and we winced against the harsh light. "Come on," Marvel insisted and he clambered down first with me behind him.

"It's us and District 12," I stated blankly and he nodded. "Let's go and win."

Leaving our packs behind, we moved silently through the woods, looking for the only obstacles that were preventing us from going home. Marvel seemed tense and anxious and his hand shook lightly around his spear. This must have been the moment that he was dreading the most. When the number of tributes left was small and we were both in the running. As long as the rule change stayed in place, we could both get home. As we walked along, I checked the chamber of my gun and found only two bullets left. I would have to use them at exactly the right time if I wanted to help us win. After searching for Peeta and Katniss for a while, we sat down several minutes away from the lake. I could tell that his nerves were building. The lake would be where the final showdown was. It was inevitable and unavoidable. Neither of us talked. We just sat in silence as we embraced the possibility that we could die in several minutes. It hadn't really struck or affected me that much and I tried to calm my breathing.

"I'm sorry again about the gun," I whispered and placed my head on his shoulder.

He sighed. "It's okay, sweet cheeks. I would've done the same," he replied and faced me, cradling my face in his hands. Smiling gently, I placed a gentle kiss to his lips and wrapped my arms around his neck. If this really was our last kiss, then it had to be a good one. My tongue traced his lips as a hand fisted in my hair. As we broke apart, I stared into his eyes and it was one of the most beautiful, yet heart-breaking moments in my life. I could recognise his soul in mine as much as he could find mine in his. Our sole existences seemed to have been for this very moment when nothing else mattered. "Let's go," he nodded and helped me to my feet. Breathing deeply and preparing myself for what laid ahead, I stepped out of the trees with my gun raised up and Marvel followed with his spear at the ready.

The lake glistened under the sunlight and the grass was soft beneath my feet. A gentle wind teased my hair which was loose, knotted and messy. As we stalked along the bank, my eyes were searching for our enemies and looking out for any traps provided by them or the Gamemakers. Suddenly, Marvel pointed at two figures further down the lake and I squinted to see the tributes from 12. Determination swarmed through me and without a single word uttered, Marvel and I charged towards them. Katniss was supporting Peeta, whose leg looked like it'd been torn to shreds- probably by the mutts. Katniss gave a small scream and pulled her bow free and loaded an arrow and aimed it at Marvel who dodged it. Instinctively, I threw myself at Peeta who had a knife and I punched him in the face. The dazed boy fell to the ground and I knocked his weapon away and it fell into the depths of the lake. Peeta grabbed my wrist as I pressed the gun against his temple and twisted it awkwardly and I screamed in pain. The gun flew a metre to my right and the waves of the lake lapped at it, trying to pull it into deeper water. I flicked my foot out and dragged it back to me as my hands worked towards Peeta's throat. From the corner of my eye, I could spy Katniss and Marvel struggling with one another. The girl had no arrows left and was futilely swiping a knife close to Marvel's chest. Marvel was trying to stab at her, but somehow he dropped his spear and Katniss desperately threw herself at him and pressed the knife against his throat.

"Stop!" I yelped and Marvel glanced at me and Katniss hesitantly looked up. In the split second that it had taken Katniss to push my District partner to the ground, I had seized an unexpected Peeta and placed him in headlock and pointed my gun to his temple- finally. Gritting my teeth, I uttered, "Let him go or I swear that I'll shoot Peeta in the head!"

Disbelief flew through Katniss' eyes and I watched the knife inch closer to Marvel's neck. "Opal, don't do-"Marvel began, but Katniss' knife touched his neck and the direction of my gun changed. It flew from Peeta's head to Katniss' and I didn't hesitate as I pulled the trigger. The gun shot backwards, but it remained in my grasp as the sound of the bullet echoed around us. Katniss' body slumped forwards and the knife fell to one side as Marvel shoved the corpse off of him. My breathing came in loud pants as I realised that we were so close to winning. I slowly began to turn my attention back to Peeta; however it was too late by then. Letting out an enraged snarl and scream, the blonde boy elbowed me in the face and I felt blood spurt from my nose and I instinctively cupped it and looked up. His hands grabbed my throat and he shoved my face into the water of the lake. My initial reaction was screaming into the waves as fear and adrenaline pumped through me. My vision became blurred and my hands struggled against Peeta's. Suddenly, they were released and I raised my head and gasped for air. From the corner of my eye, I saw Marvel yanking Peeta away from me and they broke apart and Marvel dove for his spear and Peeta's hand closed around something. He spun around to face me and raised my own gun at me. The last bullet came hurtling towards me and I tried to dive out of the way, however it hit my lower back and pain shocked my whole body. Screaming in agony I collapsed to the ground as the impact rocked through my body.

Pain. Numbness. Immense pain. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. I raised a hand. It was covered in something red. Sticky. Blood. The edges of my vision became blurred. Weird. Odd. Marvel. There he was. His hands around Peeta's neck. Snap. Peeta falls to the ground. Weird again. Marvel rushes to my side and looks at my back. He looks scared and shocked. Weird. He's screaming, but I can't hear him. How peculiar.

"Ladies and gentlemen. I give you the winners of the 74th annual Hunger Games. Marvel Queyen and Opal Venon," a voice suddenly announced.

"Opal!" Marvel's voice screamed and I blacked out.

~X~

**Please don't shoot! (Hahaha!) I swear that things aren't all bad! I swear! Please!**

**Until next time…**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 has arrived! Yipee! Let's find out what'll happen next! Special shouts to: TheOldDuir and Luli Cullen! Thanks for the reviews guys! Special thanks also to my lovely beta: Unchanging Queen of Magyk! Thanks! Now, on with the chapter! :)**

_**Disclaimer**__**: **_**I do not own The Hunger Games; only my own ideas and characters!**

**Chapter 15**

~X~

All I remember was bright lights, loud voices and immense pain in my back and legs. People yelled and darted around me and I blinked as my eyes tried to adjust to the harsh light. My mouth opened in a soundless scream whilst my throat closed and opened rapidly. Amongst the white, was the odd tinge of silver and red.

"She's waking up!" someone yelled.

"Give her the anaesthetic!" another voice panicked and amongst all of the pain, I felt a prick in my arm and once more I embraced the blackness that was unconsciousness.

~_I don't want to close my eyes_

_I don't want to fall asleep_

_Cause I'd miss you babe_

_And I don't want to miss a thing_

_Cause even when I dream of you_

_The sweetest dream will never do_

_I'd still miss you babe_

_And I don't want to miss a thing_~

The next time I woke up, I sleepily opened my eyes to find a dim light above me. The tiled ceiling was grey and black and I curiously turned my head to one side to see two familiar faces. "Ace. Gloss," I breathed and my croaky voice sounded weak. My stylist smiled and propped my head up and poured cold water into my mouth whilst Gloss pressed several buttons near my bed, allowing the top of it to rise so that I was sitting up. An Avox came in with a huge platter of food and left quickly as Ace and Gloss placed the tray on my legs and the three of us began to eat from it. "What happened?" I asked.

They exchanged glances and Gloss cleared his throat. "Well, you and Marvel won the Game… however when the District 12 boy shot you at the end…" he kept stopping and starting.

"Gloss, please," I begged him, beginning to fear for both Marvel and I's lives. "Please just tell me."

He sighed deeply and met my inquiring eyes. "He shot you in the spine and the doctors tried to do everything in their power, but the damage was quite severe. I'm afraid that you're paralysed from the waist down."

A shiver ran through my body and I narrowed my eyes. "No. I'm not paralysed," I snapped and furiously shoved the tray onto the floor. Cups and plates went flying across the floor as I tried to move my legs. They wouldn't move. I gazed down at the blanket covering them and I tossed it off to reveal my stiff legs under the hospital-style gown that I was wearing. Gripping my hands underneath my knees, I was able to drag them so that I was sitting on the side of the bed. Placing my feet on the tiled floor, I smiled as I felt the cool surface of them underneath my feet. Swinging onto my feet, I grinned as I stood upright; however this only lasted for a second before I was falling towards the floor. Landing awkwardly on my side, I winced as my body made impact and instantly Ace and Gloss were by my sides. Looking up at them with big eyes, I whispered one word, "No." I repeated it as the tears fell down my face and horror swarmed through my mind as Gloss scooped me up and placed me back in the bed.

"I'm so sorry, Opal," he whispered and ducked down to kiss my forehead before leaving the room.

Ace and I sat in silence for a good ten minutes before he cleared his throat. "Opal, I know that right now you're tired and in pain- but the final interviews have to happen tonight and we have a few hours to get ready."

Emotionlessly, I nodded and left him raise some bars up on my bed and he was able to push it on wheels. We travelled through blue corridors and I found myself in the room where I had first got ready for my tribute parade. The rest of the prep team was there and they cried over me, commenting on my Game and sighing about how silly I had been to let Peeta shoot me in the back. I simply nodded as I felt shame take over. They cleaned my body up and had to help me get into my dress which was a scarlet colour amongst sparkles. It reached my ankles and ordinarily I would have smiled at how beautiful it was, however I was just fed up and just wanted to get home. Once they had elaborately twisted my hair up into a bun, smothered my face in makeup and adorned my body with jewellery, I was deemed ready to go. Ace lifted me up in his arms and walked out of the prep room where an Avox waited for us with a wheelchair. I gulped and I could tell that fear flashed through my eyes. Ace seated me in the chair and clicked his fingers and the Avox ran away and returned a minute later with flat red shoes adorned with diamonds to match my dress. Once that was done, Ace wheeled me through several more hallways and I remained silent, until I thought of something.

"Marvel. Where is he?" I asked. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine," Ace reassured me and I nodded.

"Am I meant to cart myself around on the stage?" I questioned and he let loose a laugh.

"Cart around," he snorted. "Yes, you're going to wheel yourself around so I gave us half an hour to practise."

We reached a wide corridor and Ace talked me through how I would use the wheelchair and how to move it around. I wheeled myself from one wall to another and my arms ached painfully and my hands had several small blisters over them. When my time was up, an Avox came and Ace wheeled me through a too familiar corridor where I waited for my first interview. I could hear the crowd now who were excitedly chattering I could detect and identify Caeser Flickerman's voice. Ace positioned me before giving me a hug and running to join the crowd and take his seat.

"Ladies and gentlemen! What a long time it's been!" Caeser called out and the crowd cheered. "Now, I would like to welcome the two victors from the 74th annual Hunger Games! Marvel Queyen and Opal Venon!"

The roaring of the crowd began again and I took that as my cue to wheel myself out onto the stage. I was met by blinding lights and cheering faces. The cheering halted for a second as everybody focused on my restricted form stuck in the wheelchair before they began to shout again. Panic seized me as I spotted Gloss, Cashmere, and Delphine and Ace in the crowd who were on their feet clapping and Gloss was yelling something as Ace pointed across the stage. My gaze travelled past Caeser who was gesturing for me to join him; however I continued to look towards the other side of the stage. Then, I saw him. Marvel stood parallel to me and shock was evident on his face as his eyes travelled from the chair to me again. I could see him let out a long breath before he darted to my side and I wheeled myself towards him and we met each other halfway across the stage. He ducked down and hugged me tightly and I felt tears spring into my eyes. Forcing them down again, I pulled away and kissed him quickly. We pulled away and he grinned in relief as he helped push me towards where Caeser was waiting for us. The Capitol man was smiling at us and I could tell that he was eager to get on. He sat back down in his chair and gestured to the sofa next to him. Marvel placed his arms under me and lifted me up to sit on the sofa before sitting beside me. A small Avox darted onto the stage and removed my chair so that it wasn't in the way and the interview began.

"Marvel! Opal!" he smiled and shook his head. "What a show! I have to admit that it was defiantly my favourite!" he chuckled and the crowd made noises of agreement. "Let's watch the recap of the Game and then we'll ask our questions!"

The lights instantly dimmed with his words and a screen appeared behind us. We turned around and the screen went from black to white and the film began to play. It started with the reaping and we watched as Elsie reaped Glimmer and I volunteered. Marvel was then chosen and we were escorted away. It changed to the beginning of the tribute parade and everybody cheered as our chariot came out first. We looked amazing in our outfits and I couldn't help but grin as I grabbed Marvel's hand in the video. We caught glimpses of the other tributes, but the main focus was on us for once. Then came the unexpected. There were glimpses of our training- they must have placed cameras in the training room. I felt a pang of envy as the younger me eagerly sprinted from station to station with Marvel right behind me. Then came the interviews. They began with me and I smiled and I fluttered my lashes at the camera. The whole nation watched as I confessed my love for Marvel and they even managed to get some footage of him reacting. He looked shocked and puzzled before a soft smile found its way onto his face. Then there was his interview and they managed to cut most of the screaming from the crowd so that you could hear what he was saying. There were important moments from other interviews before they cut to the bloodbath. We all eagerly waited for the timer to reach zero. When it did, we raced towards the giant horn. Once again, the cameras watched Marvel and I slice our way to survival. Wincing now and then, I would lean into Marvel for support as I slashed somebody's throat or he impaled somebody with his spear. Here and there were clips of us together. Then came our killing of the girl on the first night. The fun we had at the lake. The tracker jacker nest incident and how we recovered. The flaming branches and trying to catch Katniss. Marvel getting shot and me saving him. How the camp split and our alliance ended. The feast and my narrow escape. Returning to Marvel and our hunts. They also showed what was happening to the rest of the alliance and Katniss and Peeta. The duo from 12 tried to be the typical star-crossed lovers; however you could tell that Marvel and I were the real deal. We watched as Cato killed Thresh and faced off the mutts who attacked him, Katniss and Peeta. The screen divided in half as we watched Marvel and I's desperate battle and the killing of Cato. The sun rose and then came the final battle. They really focused on Katniss' death and I couldn't help but feel sick as I watched Marvel and I's triumphant faces before the horror that was my almost drowning came next. The rage on Marvel's face was inhuman and terrifying as he ripped Peeta off of me and then I was shot. The me on the screen collapsed and there was blood everywhere. I felt nauseous as I watched the blood pool around me and we were announced winners.

The lights came back on and the crowd applauded before falling silent again. "So you two, what are the plans for when you get home?" Caeser asked.

Marvel put his arm around my shoulder and I tried to smile. "Try and go back to our normal lives. Train up the next lot of tributes for next year," he replied with a shrug.

We went on to talk about the best moments of the Game before Caeser closed the show and we were taken off of the stage. I was immediately placed back in my wheelchair and wheeled into the lift which was waiting for us. We were then returned to our old apartment and I felt tears come to my eyes as I finally realised that we would be returning home to District 1 in the morning. Smiling gently to myself, I let Marvel push me into the apartment.

~X~

***Sobbing* I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I loved writing the reunion so much! XD We have more fun and sad things to read next chapter including meeting Marvel and Opal's families in more detail and how they deal with the aftershock of the Games. **

**Well, until next time…**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	16. Chapter 16

**Here is chapter 16! Grab your box of tissues! You're going to need it for this one! Special thanks from last chapter's reviews goes to:** **Unchanging Queen of Magyk and TheOldDuir. And as always thank you to Unchanging Queen of Magyk for her continuous support with this story and her awesome beta skills!**

_**Disclaimer**__**: **_**I do not own The Hunger Games; only my own ideas and characters!**

**Chapter 16**

~X~

The ride back to District 1 was terrifying. I had my chair parked up at the head of the table as I half-heartedly sipped at my cup of tea. What would my family say? How would the rest of the District react? Would it really be so easy to return to my old life? These questions swarmed through my mind and panic came in strong waves. Pushing the chicken and sweet corn soup away from me, I made to wheel myself back to my room, when suddenly the train bumped violently. Cutlery went flying off of the table and my wheelchair rocked dangerously. My eyes widened as I tried to balance it, however I was too late and I fell out of it awkwardly, landing on my side. Grabbing a chair next to me, I yanked myself into a sitting position as Cashmere and Marvel leapt to my side. Using coaxing words, they lifted me back up and Gloss flipped my chair back over and they gently placed me back in the seat. I felt the tears begin to build up in my eyes and I let my eyes drop to the floor.

"Let me take her back to her room," Marvel offered and he began to push me down the corridor as I heard Gloss and Cashmere begin to whisper. Once we had passed a door, I placed my head in my hands and a choked sob escaped from my lips and tears fell quickly down my face. Marvel stayed silent until we reached my room and he closed the door behind us before gently lifting me onto my bed and he lay down with me on his chest. I grabbed onto his shirt and cried into it and he gently stroked my forehead as I sobbed uncontrollably. I hated the fact that everybody was treating me as though I was a helpless baby and that I couldn't move around as freely as I used to. The fear kicked in again and the nightmare thought that Marvel would want nothing to do with me once we got home was terrifying. Who would want a crippled girl who couldn't fend for herself? Every girl in the District was slim, strong and easily capable of taking care of herself. All of the Victors of the Games came out fairly okay, however the odd one may have lost a limb- yet none were paralysed.

After several minutes, my sobs turned into hiccups as I wiped my tears away. "I'm sorry," I whispered with a croaky voice. I looked up and Marvel frowned.

"Sorry for what?" he asked, his brow furrowing.

"For reacting like that," I replied shakily and he sat up, taking me with him.

He smiled gently and pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. "It's fine, Opal. I understand that this can't be easy for you at all."

Nodding again, he wiped away my remaining tears and gently pressed a reassuring kiss to my lips and I wrapped my arms around his neck and calmness flowed through me. We pulled apart and he smiled gently and I grinned back. I buried my face in-between his neck and his shoulder and inhaled his scent of spices and cologne.

"Come on," I sighed as we pulled away. "Let's go home."

We got ready and an hour after my brief meltdown, we were ready to return home. When the train stopped and the door opened, flashes from cameras almost blinded us as the Capital reporters swarmed to get a picture of us. Gloss stepped out first and together he and a grumbling Elsie lowered me to the ground. Marvel and Cashmere promptly followed behind us as Gloss wheeled me along. We passed through the back of the Justice Building and our group emerged out on the stage. The whole District was waiting for us and cheered as soon as we came into sight. Cameras flashed and people jumped up and down as we waved and smiled into the crowd. This continued for a while and after about half an hour, people began to retreat to their homes. This was when we were to be led to our new houses in the Victor's Village. Everything we had with us was loaded up into a black car and we drove through the main part of town and up a bit of a hill to reach the place where the Victors lived. Everything here was much more beautiful. The paths were cleaner and the houses were so much bigger. There were 12 houses on the top of the large hill and they all ringed around a sort of courtyard in the middle. The path was made up of gravel which led to the courtyard where several benches were organised around a large pond where multi-coloured fishes swam.

The door of the car opened and once again I was lifted down into my chair and I was pushed along harshly though the shallow gravel. We were led to the two houses at the edge of the circle and Marvel and Gloss headed to one whilst Elsie, Cashmere and I made our way to the other. Elsie opened the door and inside was the most beautiful décor. Everything was cream, red and gold. The carpets were soft and the wooden floors were clean. The kitchen space was huge, the living room had a large TV and the bathroom downstairs was spotless. Cashmere helped lift me upstairs where I found two guest bedrooms elaborately decorated and a master bedroom that was at the back of the house and had a small balcony as well as an en-suite which could be used as a washroom for me. Across from the bedrooms was a huge library which was already well stocked with an excellent choice of books. We returned back downstairs and entered the kitchen where we found my family waiting for me.

My father and mother, Copper and Pearl stood to one side and smiled as I entered the room. My father was tall and had dirty brownish blonde hair and narrow grey eyes and held himself stiffly, whereas my mother was small and had ginger coloured hair and wide blue eyes. They both rushed to my side and embraced me together and a few tears escaped from the corner of my eyes as I hugged them tightly.

"We're so happy to see you," my mother smiled and tucked some hair behind her ears.

My father grinned and clapped my shoulder. "Well done you for doing so well. I'm proud of you, my girl."

All of my previous qualms vanished and somebody cleared their throat. My parents stepped to one side to reveal a tearful Glimmer. There were bags under her eyes and she looked exhausted and she dropped next to me and hugged me tightly. "This is my entire fault," she choked out and I patted my older sister's head.

"It's not your fault, Glimmer. I volunteered for you and this is just how things turned out," I replied and gestured to the chair. It was at that moment that everybody's eyes flicked downwards and I gulped. There was an awkward silence which my mother decided to break.

"So, where are Marvel and his family? We should all have dinner," she enthused and I refrained myself from rolling my eyes. This was typically how mother would react. She had to play the perfect housewife and totally ignore the fact that I had just emerged from the Hunger Games- barely with my life! I went to make a snarky remark, however the doorbell rang and I held my tongue.

"That must be Marvel," Elsie said and Cashmere went to the door with me behind her. She opened the door to reveal a sheepish looking Marvel who rubbed the back of his neck and gave me a gentle smile.

"Hey. Urm, my parents and I just wanted to pop around and see how you were settling in," he gulped nervously and stepped inside. Two people followed him. Silver Queyen led his wife inside and examined my new home with an almost scathing eye. He was about a head and a half taller than Marvel and had cropped brown hair and intimidating grey eyes. His wife and Marvel's mother, Artemis, had mousy brown hair with the occasional black streak and the same grey bored eyes. My family moved into the doorway of the kitchen and entered the hall and both Marvel and I's families greeted one another; however I could feel the tension.

"Hello, Artemis. I was just saying to Opal that you should stay here for dinner tonight," my mother enthused and I inwardly sighed.

"Well, I guess we have nothing else to do," Artemis sniffed.

"Wonderful!" my mother smiled widely. This was the moment that Marvel and I met one another's eyes and I could see the horror in his and I was sure that he could see the same in mine. Marvel's family decided to stay until after dinner and Elsie said goodbye as she had to get back to the Capital for tomorrow. She congratulated us once more and kissed our cheeks before trotting away and promising to see us in a couple of months for the Victory Tour. Mother invited Cashmere and Gloss to join us; however they declined and said that they had to return to their own homes and have a meeting with the Mayor. This left our two families stuck with one another.

Mother bustled around in the kitchen preparing dinner with the help of Glimmer whilst Artemis stood to one side with a glass of white wine clasped in her hand. Meanwhile in the living room, my father and Silver sat down with a bottle of old port open and they made idle conversation. This left Marvel and I to explore the house more. We examined the rooms in greater detail and found small things that I hadn't noticed the first time I had gone around. We sat in the library with several books lying on the oak table near the fireplace which was lightly crackling and Marvel sighed and I raised my eyes from the tiny print from one of the books.

"What is it?" I asked him gently.

"I don't think that it's a good idea for us to live separately. I overhead your mother saying about how she wanted you to live here with your sister whilst her and your father went to live back in the town so that they could be closer to work," he replied.

I raised my eyebrows and met his eyes. "What are you saying?" I asked slowly.

He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled gently. "Perhaps… I guess… Maybe I could live here and help you and your sister out," he finally said. I pulled my gaze away from him and I looked out of the window. This was a big step. Did I really want him here? He took my silence as a bad thing and lowered his gaze. "I'm sorry. I know it's not a good idea-"

"No," I snapped quickly and I met his eyes again, chuckling gently. "No, I mean I think it's a good idea," I finished and a wide smile grew on his face. "I need somebody to carry me around all day," I joked and the smile fell from his face and I laughed loudly.

"You're so evil," he muttered.

"Career, honey!" I laughed back and wheeled myself out onto the landing where I found a baffled Glimmer.

"Mother, said that dinner was ready," she remarked and the three of us made our way downstairs to find the large glass table elegantly set for 7 people. Our fathers took the heads of the table whilst our mothers sat across from us with Glimmer in-between them and Marvel and I sat opposite them. Mother laid out the starter which was a creamy and rich carrot and orange soup which went down quickly. Then came the fish pie which was steaming hot and delicious. And finally was rhubarb and blood orange crumble, which was my mother's favourite recipe to make. As we started on the dessert, the conversation turned from the seemingly pleasant small talk to questions about our new homes.

"So Marvel," my father began. "Do you like your new home?" he asked with a wide smile as he licked his spoon.

"Yes, it seems very beautiful," Marvel responded from next to me. To this comment, I frowned and gently hit him from under the table. My mother saw this and frowned.

"Opal is there something that needs to be said?" she asked quickly and I gently put my spoon down.

"Well, earlier Marvel and I were talking about sharing a house here with Glimmer-"I began, however Silver cut me off with a loud laugh.

"Is there a problem with that, father?" Marvel asked through clenched teeth.

His father continued to laugh and sipped his port. "Oh, son! You really make me laugh sometime. Why would you want to move in with this girl and her sister?" he asked, swaying dangerously.

"Because we're together," Marvel replied simply and entwined our hands under the table and I gave his a reassuring squeeze. "And I want to help her and her sister out."

"Marvel-"Artemis began, but Silver waved his hand, cutting her off.

He pointed a finger at his son. "Now you listen here, you'll do nothing of that sort. You've earner that house of yours and you didn't win the Games so that you could become a skivvy to a cripple and her sister."

Silence filled the air and a look of anger came over my face and my tight on Marvel's hand became firmer as rage flooded through me.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Glimmer asked furiously, getting to her feet.

"How dare you," my mother whispered and clutched her napkin tightly.

My father got to his feet and opened the kitchen door. "I would appreciate it if you were to leave," he remarked coolly and sniffed angrily.

"Only when my son agrees to forget this stupid idea and we return him to his house," Silver sniffed.

Artemis looked panicked and moved towards the door. "Silver, we should let Marvel make his own decisions-"she began, however Silver slammed his fist down on the table.

"No, the boy will do as we tell him to," he snapped, getting to his feet and Marvel let go of my hand and moved towards his own father.

"Leave now," he hissed, fists clenching.

"No," Silver stubbornly retorted and pushed Marvel backwards. "I'll do as I please and you will come home this instant and abandon this foolish fantasy that you really care for this paralysed girl!" he roared back.

"Leave now," my father urged as Marvel continued to glower at his father.

"I'm warning you-"Marvel continued.

"And what are you going to do about it?" his father laughed.

Marvel's fist came backwards and threw itself into his father's nose. There was a satisfying crunch and Silver looked up and clutched his nose which was bleeding rapidly. His father grinned before punching Marvel hard in the jaw and his son fell to the floor. Letting out a cry, I moved to his side and saw him bleeding from his lip and he pushed himself up to make a move towards his father, but I grabbed his arm and held him back as Artemis grabbed Silver's arm and dragged him from the room. She muttered apologies as her husband screamed and cursed at our family and his son. The second that they were out of the house, my sister made her way to Marvel's side and handed him a napkin which he pressed to his lip.

"Thanks," he muttered darkly and dabbed it away.

We all exchanged few words with one another as we tidied away and Marvel and Glimmer agreed to live in the house with me. We set up the bedrooms so that I had the master and Glimmer and Marvel both had a guest bedroom each. Mother and father decided to stay for the night and took some blankets and slept in the living room. The lights were flicked out late that night and I lay in bed with thoughts keeping me from sleeping. I felt awful for Marvel and felt partially guilty for his parents reacting that way- however it was his choice.

I was beginning to feel sleepy, however somebody gently knocked on the door and I rolled to one side to face the door. "Come in," I whispered and Marvel's head poked inside.

He moved to the bed and sat down next to me. "Mind if I join you?" he asked and I nodded and he crawled in beside me and wrapped his arms around me and I kissed the tip of his nose and snuggled into his chest.

"Just don't let my parents or sister find out," I replied and he laughed and gently kissed the spot where his father had punched him. "And don't you dare try anything funny with me," I continued and he laughed again before burying his face in my hair.

~X~

**Wow! When I first began writing this chapter, it wasn't going to be like this at all. But aren't you all happy how it turned out? I know I am! Poor Marvel and Opal- but yay because they're living together! Let me know your thoughts! Should Silver and Artemis apologise or should there be tension between them and the Venon family and their son?**

**Until next time…**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey guys… so I've had some exams and I've been in Berlin on a school trip, so sorry for the late update. If you're still here, have chocolate chip muffins! Yay! Special thanks to my beta: unchanging Queen of Magyk and to my readers: TheOldDuir and Guest! Woooo!**

_**Disclaimer**__**: **_**I do not own The Hunger Games; only my own ideas and characters!**

**Chapter 17**

~X~

For the next few months, Marvel, Glimmer and I found ourselves falling into a familiar cycle. Wake up, get washed and dressed. Help me down the stairs and sort out breakfast before Glimmer went to work in a jewellery store. Whilst she was out, Marvel would go and train some of the wannabe careers down at the Academy and when he wasn't needed, he'd study the history and politics of Panem. Meanwhile I decided that I would engage myself in arts and music. If I wasn't trapped in the chair, then I would have decided to pursue dancing, however I was restrained like a bird in a cage. I had begun to learn the piano and harp and an artist from the District would visit me every week and teach me some painting or drawing techniques which I could apply to my work. Despite this, I would still practise my archery and knife throwing in the garden. Marvel and I would often go down to the market and buy some food or clean the house. Glimmer would return from work and we would have dinner before all sitting down and relaxing. Glimmer would then go upstairs and Marvel would help me. When we were all in bed, Marvel would sneak into my room and sleep with me so that if one of us had a nightmare, the other would be there to comfort them.

Despite the time that passed, Silver nor Artemis wanted anything to do with Marvel. His Victor's house stood empty and deserted. Every time we saw the pair of them, they would hurriedly walk away or pretend that they hadn't seen us. I didn't mind, however I could tell that Marvel missed his family- no matter how mine made him feel welcome. Every Sunday afternoon, mother and father would walk up to the house and we'd spend the afternoon and evening together. It turned out that father and Marvel had a lot in common and got along amazingly and mother would also comment on how lucky I was to have him. Of course she was right! I was so lucky to have Marvel; the same guy who had stayed with me despite my condition, took care of me, helped me out in several ways and stayed with me despite his parent's disapproval.

Our relationship moved along quickly. We became a lot more open about it and our feelings for one another, often showing public displays of affection. On one summer evening, Glimmer hesitantly asked us if we had been properly intimate yet. I blushed and instantly threw a pillow at her head whilst Marvel laughed and told her to mind her own business. We hadn't really progressed far in that aspect. The thought of being with Marvel like that was an intriguing idea, however I was always too nervous to take the next step. Of course he was only too willing to wait like the gentleman he was.

Several months after our emerge from the arena, it was time for our victory tour and to be honest, I was dreading it. So on a blustery autumn morning, Glimmer saw us off at the train station and waved goodbye. Gloss, Cashmere, Elsie, Ace and Delphine joined us on the tour and provided us with good company and support. We began in District 12 where I felt the guiltiest. We met the families of Katniss and Peeta who almost glared up at us with hungry and tired eyes. Katniss' mother looked as thin as a pole and had a gaunt face and Katniss' sister was a tiny weedy thing who constantly had tears in her eyes. Peeta's family looked emotionless and so did a tall boy with dark hair and the same grey eyes as Katniss. Their mentor, Haymitch, simply glared at us and simply grunted at our arrival.

District 11 was painful. The people seemed agitated and Thresh and Rue's large families looked murderous. Rue's large family looked on the brink of starvation and could only glare up at a guilty Marvel whilst Thresh's family just looked enraged. We passed through Districts 10 to 5 without any more problems. The ginger girl from 5's family seemed pretty upset and shouted abuse up at me and was dragged away by a peacekeeper. District 4 was hard and so was 3 as we had known the tributes there pretty well. District 2 was next and Clove and Cato's families seemed pretty calm and at peace. I was more than happy to return home to celebrate in our own District. We were showered with gifts and praise before finishing the tour in the Capitol. Once again we had the old luxuries back and enjoyed every second of it. We sadly found out that the head Game maker, Seneca Crane was dead and met the new one, Plutarch Heavensbee. We were once again greeted by President Snow and Caeser Flickerman and saw several other familiar Capitol faces.

We returned home to District 1 not long afterwards and Christmas was quickly on its way. The temperature dropped and occasionally snow began to fall. The children and the adults became more and more excited as the holiday grew closer and closer. Glimmer and I had been out shopping and bought all of the presents we needed. On the night before Christmas, the three of us laid the presents under the evergreen tree that was adorned with jewels and silver tinsel. Mother had visited the day before saying that father had come down with the flu and that they would be spending Christmas together and would leave us to our own celebrations. We delivered our presents to mother who promised to pass them onto our father and wished us a happy holiday. On that same night, Marvel had attempted to visit his family, only to find the doors and windows firmly locked and nobody answered the door. In an act of peace, he left the presents outside and returned home with a stormy expression on his face.

On Christmas morning, I was awoken by an overexcited Glimmer and Marvel. "Wake up for goodness sake!" Glimmer squealed and pulled on my arm.

Grumbling, I slowly sat up with their help and groggily rubbed at my eyes. "5 more minutes," I moaned.

"Come on, sweet cheeks!" Marvel laughed. "For goodness sake! It's Christmas!"

"Fine, fine," I sighed and Glimmer darted from the room and I could hear her pounding feet on the stairs. Laughing to myself, I pulled my dressing gown on and let Marvel sweep me up in his arms. I could tell that he was just as excited as my sister was and when we reached the bottom of the stairs, he sat me in my chair and pushed me into the living room with certain giddiness.

The fire was roaring, the tree was lit up and Glimmer was already organising our presents into separate piles. A grin quickly found itself onto my face as I scooped up my presents and set about opening them. From my parents was a long dress made a soft blue silk that brushed my knees and had thin spaghetti straps. Glimmer got me several books and a new sketchbook. There were gifts from people in the District who I knew well and I received thoughtful little presents form them. From Marvel, I received a bracelet with several gemstones dangling from the silver links.

Glimmer mostly received jewellery and dresses from family and friends and I and Marvel had gotten her a golden necklace with a turtle charm made of gold. She was over thrilled with her gifts and seemed to love them. Marvel received small things that proved useful; Glimmer got him a set of knives and I got him some fancy looking leather journals which he could write his thoughts in. Sadly there wasn't any present from his family to him, however he quickly dismissed it.

I set to work piling all of my presents; however Marvel and Glimmer stopped me. "What is it?" I asked.

They glanced at one another with excitement in their eyes. "We chipped in together to get you one last present," my sister explained and I smiled.

"Awh! You didn't have to," I said, gazing at them happily.

"I'll go and get it," Marvel laughed and ran out of the room. He poked his head around the corner and called, "Oh, and close your eyes!"

Laughing to myself, I closed my eyes and resisted the temptation to open my eyes, however I kept them closed and waited. I could hear him going outside and coming back in, struggling to close the door. He walked along the hallway and re-entered the room. I heard him put a large box down and there was a scratching sound. Frowning to myself, I titled my head to one side.

"Open them!" Glimmer begged and when I did, I saw a large white box with a red bow on top. Curious, I leant closer and Marvel lifted the box onto my lap. It was heavy- very heavy. The scratching began again and I hurriedly undid the bow on top and lifted the lid up to reveal something. A bundle of grey fur. A tiny head poked out of the box and I met the inquiring stare of a fluffy silver dog. My jaw dropped as it scrambled out of the box and began to happily sniff my face and lick my nose. I laughed as its tail happily wagged and the dog placed its paws on my chest. Cooing over the animal, I lifted it up and set it on my lap. I petted his head and looked up at my sister and boyfriend with tears in my eyes.

"Thank you so much," I sniffed and wiped away tears. Glimmer hugged me and went to scratch the dog's ears. Marvel grinned and knelt by my side and I grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him into a deep kiss where our tongues met. When we pulled away, he smiled and gazed into my eyes deeply and pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead.

"It's a boy," he grinned and I laughed as we all began to pet the silver dog. After a while, he scrambled off of my lap and began to trot around and sniff everything. Marvel had to quickly grab him before he sniffed at the flames in the fireplace which would have singed his whiskers off.

"What are you going to call him?" Glimmer asked.

I paused for a moment, before grinning. "Titanium. After the metal," I replied and they nodded their approval and Titanium gave a small bark of approval.

We had a relaxing day. The three of us and the dog lounged around and at lunchtime, we sat down for a magnificent feast which was delicious. Afterwards, Glimmer announced that she was going to spend the rest of the day and tomorrow with some of her friends and so she said goodbye and told us to have fun. We spent the rest of the afternoon together and little Titanium followed us around everywhere, looking confused and sniffing everything. We watched the capitol news where the announced that President Snow would be making an important announcement tomorrow morning. For dinner, we had a pile of profiteroles and dipped our fingers in the liquid chocolate.

When night fell, Titanium crawled onto a plush gold pillow and fell asleep whilst Marvel and I sat in front of the dying embers of the fire. I leant heavily on him as we stared into the coals and occasionally pressed our lips together. I rested my face in the crook of his neck and breathed deeply. His warm hands trailed past my arms and rested on my hips. My breathing hitched and I pressed my lips against his and tried to pull myself closer to him. Suddenly, I felt one of his hands slide underneath my shirt and I paused with my movements and pulled away and his hand slid away.

"I'm sorry," he almost sighed.

"No… I'm sorry," I replied and tucked some hair behind my ear.

"Don't be. I just thought that it was a special time of year and we seem pretty serious about our relationship," he said slowly, disappointment clear in his voice.

Slight anger built up- as did determination and frustration… and love. Fuelled with adrenaline, I grabbed his face and forcefully began to kiss him again. My legs were tucked uselessly underneath me; however I wrapped my arms around him with enough force to make him almost fall into me. One of my hands trailed to the top of his shirt and began to work on the buttons there. This time he was the one that paused and he narrowed his eyes.

"Don't just do this because I want to," he said evenly, however I could see the passion burning in his eyes.

"I want to," I urged and slammed my lips back onto his.

We returned to our previous state and he scooped me up in his strong arms and I remained glued to him as we stumbled up the stairs. He near enough kicked the bedroom door down and placed me down on the covers. He knelt on top of me, shirt partly hanging open and I stared up at him with glazed eyes.

"You sure?" he asked once more.

"Yes," was my simple reply as once again, I was smothered with kisses and love.

~X~

**Okay, so two things. 1) Not every dog bought at Christmas gets a bad life. I just thought it was a nice gesture from Marvel and Glimmer to Opal. 2) I crammed a lot into one chapter to make it seem longer and better. However it turned out okay.**

**Until next time…**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	18. Chapter 18

**Again, a bit of a delay but I've been stressed as much as humanly possible, but Christmas is approaching and I'm finally beginning to sort myself out. I've said I want to end this story by Christmas, but I honestly doubt it. I'm going to try, but my exams and real life takes priority right now, so apologies. Just stick with me and I promise that I won't abandon you all! I swear! Thanks to: TheOldDuir!**

_**Disclaimer**__**: **_**I do not own The Hunger Games; only my own ideas and characters!**

**Chapter 18**

~X~

I woke up the next morning as sunlight streamed through the windows and I flinched at the harsh light. A warm arm was wrapped around my waist and I was confused for a moment before I rolled over and saw a sleeping Marvel with a peaceful look on his face. Grinning to myself, I remembered the events from last night and snuggled into his chest. My ear was pressed over his heart and I listened to its beating before Marvel groggily opened his eyes. "Hey," he yawned.

"Morning," I smiled and looked up at him with wide eyes. "Ready to get up?" I asked and he nodded wearily.

He got up and crossed the room, sliding his pants on and grabbed a dressing gown for me before throwing it to me. Shrugging it on, I nodded and he picked me up in his arms and he walked down the stairs before seating me in one of the chairs in the dining room and he flicked on the TV before rooting around in the fridge. I turned my attention to the screen and watched as President Snow prepared to make his public announcement. Snow waved down at the crowds and smiled at them easily. He tapped the microphone in front of him which responded and he smiled. He placed his hand in a box with several numbers on them and pulled out one with a number 3 on it. The government thought that every 25 years there would be a special version of the Games with different conditions. It looked as though they had the idea that the Games would be around for a long time. He opened the paper and read from it.

"On the 75th anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest among them cannot overcome the power of the Capitol, the male and female tributes will be reaped from their existing pool of victors,"

My jaw drops as I let the words Snow has said wash over me. We never truly escaped. Marvel and I could be going back into the arena. The TV flicks off and I see Marvel shaking violently in both terror and rage. He places the remote down on the table steadily before grabbing a jacket and storming out of the house.

"Marvel!" I call out. "Marvel!"

The front door slams and I lower myself into the wheelchair and make my way towards the front door. When I reach it, it flings open to reveal Cashmere and Gloss. The two of them look passive and I let them inside and they sit on the sofa in the living room. We discuss our course of action and decide that the only way to overcome this is to train and hope that another two victors are selected from the pool. Glimmer returned home when Gloss and Cashmere left and Marvel returned later that night looking murderous. Whenever I asked him what he was doing, he merely said that he had gone down to the Academy where he chucked some things around.

And so over the next few months all of the victors would gather each day at the Academy and we would all train together. Well, Marvel, Gloss and Cashmere would train and I would only do certain tasks. I was limited due to my condition and it infuriated me. Why did this have to be the case? I often spent my time thinking about how awful our luck had been and I would be left furiously crying. Whilst the other victors returned to their healthiest state in agility and skill set, I could only practise my archery and knife and spear throwing form my chair, however I was still restricted. If I was reaped and shoved into the arena, how was I to move around? And so I began to formulate a plan. Just in case I was the female tribute. Despite my state, I continued to practise and formulate my plan- not telling anybody about it.

The time flew by as the next Games got closer and closer. Glimmer and my family became more and more edgy and tearful every time they visited and a week before the reaping day, I told them to leave us alone until after the reaping was over. On the final night, Glimmer, Marvel and I sat eating dinner in a stony silence. None of us exchanged any conversation and when we were finished, Marvel and I bid Glimmer goodnight before heading upstairs and we said nothing. When we finally reached our bedroom, he placed his lips on mine and placed me on the bed. That night we got little sleep and laid there intertwined as we desperately tried to express to each other how much we really loved one another. No matter what I said or did, I couldn't express how I really felt. We were both 18 years old, in love and innocent. We had done nothing wrong and yet the world was mad at us for a crime we didn't commit.

In the morning, we dressed and made our way down to the town centre where the stage was set. I said goodbye to my family and rolled my way towards the area where the female tributes stood. Never again did I think that I would be stuck within the ropes, waiting for my name to be called out. I fiddled with my blonde locks and watched my old friend, Elsie Oport breeze onto the stage. She looked the same as she did during my previous reaping; only this time her hair was apple green. She gave her usual speech and showed the video which I tuned out as she smiled down at us.

"My, my! This is so exciting! I want to glam things up a bit, so this year… let's start with the boys!" she giggled. She almost danced over to the glass bowl and dove her hand into it. After rummaging around for a minute, she withdrew a piece of paper and walked back to the microphone before unfurling it. I crossed my fingers when she looked up and called out the name. "Marvel Queyen!" she announced. I choked as I looked over and watched him square his shoulders and sigh. Watching him, I clenched my hands and stared at the male victors expectantly. Gloss looked furious and went to step out, but Cashmere shook her head urgently and he nodded, making me confused. "Now for the girls!" Elsie reminded us. Marvel crossed his arms as he watched Elsie pick the name of the female tribute. I found it hard to breathe and I began to sweat even more as she made her way back to the microphone. The paper opened and Elsie cleared her throat. "Opal Venon!"

"No!" Glimmer screamed and tried to push through the crowd.

I saw Marvel groan and I met his eyes steadily and began to wheel my way forwards. I had reached the bottom of the stage, when somebody called out.

"Wait! I volunteer!" a female voice shouted. Everybody turned as Cashmere stepped out of the rope. "I volunteer for Opal!"

She strode forwards and I blocked her path. "Leave it Cashmere. I know what I'm doing," I reasoned and she glowered.

"What?! You're just willing to throw your life away like this?! I can't believe this!" she shrieked.

I placed a hand on her arm and sighed. "Please Cashmere. Try to understand me. I know what I'm doing."

I nodded to Elsie and two guards came to move the victor away from me as I was lifted up onto the stage with my chair. When I reached there, I sat on the other side of Elsie as she smiled out into the crowd. "May I present, once again, our two tributes for the 75th annual hunger games: Marvel Queyen and Opal Venon!" she applauded.

And for once, nobody in the District clapped.

~X~

**Oh! I am horrible- aren't I?!**

**Until next time…**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	19. Chapter 19

**I'm so sorry for the long wait. This has probably been some of the worst weeks of my entire life yet. Exam after exam after exam. Coursework deadlines. My Nan passed away on Christmas day etc. However everything's over for now, so I'm back on track with everything. Updates should be more frequent. Apologies and thank you if you're still reading. We have lots of twists and turns to go now! Hold onto your hats.**

_**Disclaimer**__**: **_**I do not own The Hunger Games; only my own ideas and characters!**

**Chapter 19**

~X~

We left the District quickly, Gloss and Cashmere coming after us as the other victors slunk away to their homes, uninterested and almost disappointed that they hadn't been selected to fight. I kept to myself in the day it took to reach the capitol, as did my friends. Cashmere tried to figure out what my plan was, however I blanked her out and shook my head at every comment she made. When we finally got there, I wheeled myself down a ramp and scanned the crowd of people waiting for us at the station. There were photographers held back by ropes and I winced as cameras flashed in my face. The prep building sat before me and I wheeled my way inside, Marvel, Gloss and Cashmere behind me.

Stylists were running about like crazy as different doors opened and victors and mentors came strolling in. I peered around people and smiled when I saw a familiar face waiting for me.

"Ace!" I called out happily. Hastily, I wheeled my chair towards him and came to a skidding halt before my stylist who had tears in his eyes. "It's been so long!" I cried as we embraced. After several moments we broke away and he began to push me into the design centre with Delphine and Marvel trailing behind us.

I was moved from the wheelchair to a table on which I was laid down and stripped of my clothes as my old prep team smiled and re-greeted me- pleased to once again be styling me for my second Games. I merely nodded and muttered in agreement. De-ja vu wept over me as I went through a seemingly familiar process of being washed down and having all hair removed from my body. There I lay for several hours as I was made perfect once again. I had allowed my prep team to do whatever they wanted and the group of them had curled my hair and placed it up in a bun that rested on top of my head. They then dusted my skin in gold powder that glittered in the light before dressing me in a long flowing white dress that was adorned with a golden belt encrusted with a variety of jewels. Simple brown sandals were put on my feet before I was transferred back to my chair. Then it struck me- what was I meant to do on the chariot?

After I was deemed ready, I was wheeled towards the familiar area where the tributes entered their chariots. From the look of the rushing tributes, stylists and horses, we were late. Hurrying, Ace rushed me to the nearest chariot to the door which was made of what seemed to be pure gold. The white horses had elaborate feathers on their head and neighed nervously as though they sense my horror. Delphine turned to greet us and revealed Marvel. He stood dressed in a loose white shirt and simple black trousers which clung to his skin. We both wore the same sandals and he too had a belt like mine and similar gold dusted skin.

"Hey," he smiled gently.

"Hey yourself," I winked. "You look amazing!"

He grinned. "So do you, sweet cheeks."

After playfully wheeling into him, Ace and Delphine exchanged glances before approaching me. I frowned at their odd behaviour and titled my head to one side. "What's going on?" I asked slowly.

They then interlinked their hands to make a seat with their arms and Marvel helped lift me into their arms. They then hurriedly moved me towards the chariot and I waited with baited breath. As we got closer, I spotted some straps producing from the floor of the chariot which I was lowered into. Whilst Ace held me in position, Delphine strapped my legs inside as I clutched onto the edge of the chariot. My gold painted nails scratched at the metal as I fought to keep myself upright. After a final click, they let me go and I winced- expecting to fall to the ground. Instead, I stayed upright and let out a surprised yelp. Several people looked over and Ace and Delphine smiled at one another widely and exchanged high-fives. Marvel stepped up beside me with his mouth open in shock. It was odd to stand at the same height as him again and I felt several tears spill from the corners of my eyes as I laughed in pure happiness and shock.

Grinning like fools, I pulled him into a hug and we exchanged a brief kiss, before a capitol attendant moved up beside the chariot and called up to us that we were about to leave. We pulled away as the man slapped the horse's rear and they began to make their way forwards. I kept one hand interlinked with Marvel's to keep me steady before beginning to wave at the crowds.

Before I knew it, we were making our way down the streets of the capitol and people were cheering everywhere. I could hear the startled cries of people who pointed in my direction- Opal Venon, the girl who shone. The same girl that had been and still was paralysed was stood up in a chariot pulled by galloping horses- how? The trickery of some leather straps.

~_Don't want to close my eyes_~

I woke up the next morning when the sun began to rise and groggily wiped sleep from my eyes. Not waking Marvel who was still deep in sleep, I rolled from the bed and shuffled into my chair. Silently wheeling it along, I made my way out of the bedroom to meet Gloss and Cashmere who stood worriedly shoulder to shoulder with similar frowns on their face. Instead of wearing the typical training clothes, I was clad in only simple white clothes. Ace and Delphine stood behind them with supportive looks on their faces which stopped me from turning tail and forgetting about my plan and my mentors' disapproval.

"Are you sure above this Opal? What will Marvel say?" Cashmere asked. After Marvel had gone to bed, I had explained my plan to the mentors and stylists staying on the first floor with us. "Anyway, how will you know that they'll do what you want?"

"Because I asked nicely," I remarked sarcastically. "Let's go then."

As Delphine scooped me up in her arms, Gloss grabbed my arm. "What are we going to tell Marvel?" he asked quietly.

"Tell him," I began before pausing. I chewed my lip briefly before letting out along sigh. "Tell him that I'm busy and won't see him for a couple of days but he should make alliances and practise everything he can."

He nodded before Ace and Delphine took me out of our main room and into the lift. They pressed the lower basement button and we rode downwards in silence. When we finally reached the basements, the smell of morphine greeted us and the sleek grey doors opened. People dressed in white bustled around and I gulped expectantly. Everybody froze as we walked further into the room. A woman with pink hair smiled and extended her hand.

"Opal Venon, what a pleasure. I am Doctor Frankhunsteen and I'll be performing your spinal operation," she smiled gently before getting Delphine to move me to a clean metal bed. I was laid on my front and my clothes were removed and a blue sheet was placed over my cool back. "So, we'll be performing a complex surgery to fix the nerves and let you walk again that will take about 12 hours. The morphine that we will be giving you should last for 24 hours to give you time to recover. I will begin by giving you the dosage and we'll see you on the other side."

"Okay," was the only reply I could force out as a lump formed in my throat. I closed my eyes as I felt a needle enter my arm. It was long- and painful. After it was removed, I heard the people moving around and I let an eye open to see that everything was blurry and hazy.

"Miss Venon, if you could begin to count down from 10," the doctor said calmly, her voice distorted.

"10, 9, 8…" I began.

Then everything went black. I felt no pain- nothing. The surgery was 24 hours, however for me it felt like the blink of an eye.

When I woke up, I was in a comfortable bed and the bleeping of a heart monitor could be heard to my right. At first everything was fuzzy; however after a while I could see that I was still in the lower basement. Looking down, I tossed the covers from my legs. It fell away to reveal my slim, hairless legs. Closing my eyes, I willed my toes to wiggle- and they did. Crying out in shock, I moved from the bed and my legs moved fluidly and smoothly. Carefully, I placed my feet onto the freezing cold floor and stood up. Clinging onto the bed rail, I made my way to the end of the curtained area and let go of the railing.

I could stand. Freely. Without support.

"Opal," the doctor smiled when she saw me. "Shall we return to your bed?"

"I'd rather stand," I smiled widely and hugged her, making her let out a soft laugh.

"I think that we should. Just to be on the safe side," she grinned and begrudgingly I climbed back inside the covers.

"Hopefully there isn't anything bad to report," I mocked with my widest smile, exposing my teeth.

She shook her head. "The operation was a clear success and went along much better than we anticipated. However," she hesitated before pulling out a folder and flicking through several files. "We did find some irregularities in your post-operation examination."

"Sorry?"

"We ran several tests and found that a new problem has arisen," she said quickly.

"Nothing bad I hope. Please tell me that I'll still be able to walk," I begged and she shook her head.

"No, it isn't that."

"Then what?" I almost screamed.

"You're pregnant."

Silence lay over us for several minutes.

"How? When? Why?" I mumbled.

"You're barely a week along, but our technology allowed us to indicate it quickly. Congratulations."

~X~

**OMG! What have I done? XD**

**Until next time…**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey guys… sorry once again about the long delay. My life has been a right mess recently! I've had friendship issues, exams, results, loads of keyboard work, revision sessions and massive writer's block! Eesh! But I'm back now and it's actually my birthday in 2 days (being Wednesday the 13****th**** of March)! So, here's a little present for both me and you! The next chapter is here! Also, I've worked out that the remaining events of this story will probably take up at least another 6 chapters… so I guess that the end is nigh! Thanks to all of my remaining loyal readers. I love you special snowflakes. Now read one!**

_**Disclaimer**__**: **_**I do not own The Hunger Games; only my own ideas and characters!**

**Chapter 20**

~X~

I stayed down in the lower basement for the next 24 hours as my body was hurriedly healed. I found that I could walk, run and near enough do everything I used to before the accident. Every now and then I would look up at the massive clock on the wall that had been programmed to alert everybody when I was to go up for the final interviews. It was hard facing the fact that I would be going back into the arena tomorrow- again.

I went from pacing along the basement to sitting down the too-comfy bed and swinging my legs. Ace travelled downstairs and sat with me during the last few hours and styled my hair whilst I waited. I had been dressed earlier in a flowing white dress that brushed the floor when I walked. Along my waist there had been placed a jewel encrusted belt that was adorned by diamonds, emeralds and opals; whilst on my feet there were some simple white pumps with diamonds on the toes. I fiddled with the hem of the dress as Ace slid some pins into my hair which had been braided then placed on top of my head. The pins had small opals pinned onto them and dazzled when they caught the light.

We had timed the process wisely as five minutes before the beginning of the interviews; I was rushed upstairs where everything was chaos. Tributes rushed around with their stylists and capitol attendants. I had decided to give Panem a shock and was still in my wheelchair. The surprise would definitely get me some more sponsors. As we neared the doors that led to the stage, we passed a large TV that had the placing from the training. I was placed at the bottom of the list due to the paralysis and the fact that I didn't turn up for training- disappointing. Above me was the District 6 tributes, followed by the weaker ones accompanied by District 12. Haymitch Abernathy had been reaped with a young girl. It turned out that because there was only one victor in 12, they reaped a girl as normal. My eyes leapt to the top of the table which showed that Finnick Odair and Brutus from Districts 4 and 2 were tied at first place. Then there was Marvel, followed by Enobaria and then Mags respectively from 2 and 4.

The careers had been placed at the top once again- except from me.

"Opal!" a voice called out. I spun my chair around to see Marvel dashing towards me with a look of anger on his face. He dropped down beside me, his blue eyes furious. "Where the hell have you been?!" he demanded. "I've been worried sick!"

"Marvel," I hissed. "Calm down!"

"How can I be calm when I haven't seen you for days on end? You didn't even turn up for training!" he shot back.

Before I could reply, Ace was pulling me away from Marvel and I resisted the urge to leap to my feet. His face was stony as I pulled away from him. "I'm sorry," I shouted before his face was lost in the sea of other faces.

We made our way to the stage door and I could hear Caeser Flickerman talking to the capitol and all of Panem once more. A wave of déjà vu came over me and I shook my head as my mind was filled of memories from my first games. We waited in the wings of the stage and with an absent minded I fiddled with the hem of my dress. This was it- time to get the sponsors once again.

"Now, I ask all of you to give a very warm welcome to the one, the only. Miss Opal Venon from District 1! The girl who shone last year!" Caeser called.

I threw Ace a desperate look as my throat constricted and he nodded once at me. Pushing the chair aside, I got to my heeled feet and took one step so that I was on the stage. The lights shone brightly on my face and I blinked, struggling to see the crowd. The cheering began and then ceased again within seconds of my appearance. I swear, from the corner of my eyes, Ii saw Caeser drop backwards into his chair in pure shock and astonishment.

Panic flared up once more as I took several steps towards the chairs at the front of the stage. As my pace increased, I heard some people calling and the cheering started again. My forced grimace then turned into a full, face filling smile. I waved and blew kisses just like the previous year and seated myself next to a flustered Caeser Flickerman who resembled a gaping fish out of water.

"Hello Caeser. Lovely to see you again," I smiled and shook his hand which felt limp in mine.

"But- you- we- what?" he stuttered before shaking his head. "Opal- how?"

I giggled. "No machinery. No tricks. I can walk again," I said simply into the camera. The crowd cheered and I smiled towards them, playing the game just like before. "Whilst the training was going on, I had a long operation which allowed me to walk once again."

"But… that is truly a miracle!" Caeser laughed.

He then went on to talk more to me about how it felt to be back on my feet and then about my competition and any alliances. I kept my answers sweet and simple and tried to be honest to the camera. Once the buzzer sounded, I smiled once more at the crowd before making my way down and offstage where I found Cashmere and Gloss along with Ace and Delphine waiting for me. It instantly reminded me of last year when I had confessed my attraction and love to Marvel and Cashmere had slammed me up against a wall and snapped right at me. This time, they waited for me with solemn faces and Delphine and Cashmere were actually crying.

My ex-mentor rushed to me and engulfed me in a hug and pulled away wiping tears away. "How did you get them to do this? Like Caeser said, it's a miracle!" she choked out and laughed. "Who cares? You're back in the running- look!" she pointed up at the screen that had the odds of each victor on it. I had shot up from my previous position into third place!

I gasped before Gloss grabbed my shoulder and spun me around so that we could see Marvel sitting down before a still befuddled and startled Caeser. "So Marvel, how much of Opal's secret operation did you know about?" the blue haired man asked him.

Marvel looked into the cameras and I held my breath expectantly. A wide grin broke over his face and he settled back into his chair. "Oh, I knew about it! Yeah, in fact I was the one who gave her the idea in the first place," he lied breezily. I let out the breath that I was holding and glared at the screen as they then proceeded to talk about alliances and what he expected from the games before Caeser sent him on his way.

I waited by the stage door for him to come down, when he finally emerged from the door, he instantly turned on me and grabbed my upper arms and dragged me into the lift with the team yelling right behind us. When we reached out floor, he shoved me inside before slamming the door and locking it so that we were the only ones inside.

"Marvel-"I began, however he yelled over me.

"What the bloody hell Opal?! What is this? Where has this come from?! Huh! Why the hell didn't you tell me?!" he roared and grabbed me again, shaking me violently.

Trembling in fear and fury, I shoved against him. "I did it for me- for us!" I screamed back, pounding my fists on his chest. "You know what the capitol is like! They would have found out instantly if I told you! You had to be as shocked as the rest of Panem! I did it so that we would both survive! Don't you understand that?!"

"Of course I do!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air and flopping down onto the sofa. Taking several deep breaths, he settled down on and looked up at me with wide eyes. "What I don't understand though is why you couldn't trust me."

"I do trust you," I sighed in a defeated tone and sat down next to him so that our shoulders were touching. "It's just… you have to see it from my viewpoint. If I'd gone into the arena in my chair and without the use of my legs, all hell would have broken loose. You'd try to defend me and we'd both be butchered within being in the arena for at least 4 minutes."

He nodded and closed his eyes before looking back at me. "Is there anything else that you want to tell me?" he asked evenly, a trace of anger in his tone.

My hands automatically rested on my stomach; however I quickly moved them down to rest on my thighs. He didn't notice. He didn't have to know about the baby. It was better that way. "Nope. Nothing," I replied and he nodded his eyes still cold and reserved.

"Right, well I've managed to get us in with the careers. There are us, Brutus, Enobaria, Finnick and Mags. We're planning to get rid of as many people as possible during the bloodbath, so make sure that you're off of your plate quickly and that you don't let the others get all of the good weapons," he explained.

I nodded and took in his words, but at the same time I was panicking. Should I have told him about the baby? How would he react? Would he be angry? Happy? Furious? Each reaction seemed plausible. In the end I realised that I had done enough damage and that I should wait until a better opportunity. We let our stylists and mentors back in after a while and there was an awkward silence in the air for the rest of the evening. The TV stayed off and we all sipped at our drinks quietly.

"You two had better get to bed," Delphine said quietly to the two of us and we headed to our normal room.

In silence we changed for bed and wordlessly got under the covers. We flicked off the lights and darkness surrounded us. "Night," I whispered. "Love you," I added and bit my lip. I could see him turn over so that he was facing away from me.

"Night," he replied.

~X~

**Oh no! Trouble in paradise! Marvel's angry at Opal for some dumb reason! And they're going into the arena tomorrow! *Gasp* What will we do?!**

**Until next time…**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey guys, long time... I know! But I do have a new chapter for you all... Well, all of you still reading. Why do you guys still put up with me... who knows! XD Anyways, hope you guys like this chapter. There's good ol' action and fighting again! Yay! Enjoy!**

**_Disclaimer_: I don't own Hunger Games; only my own characters and ideas. **

**Chapter 21**

**~X~**

The hovercraft's familiar hum sounded and I winced as the tracker was injected into my arm. Once the needle had been pulled away, I rubbed the sore skin and I looked up only to meet Mag's intense gaze.

The older woman tried to smile comfortingly to me and ever so carefully placed four fingers over her knee. Copying the move, I watched anxiously as Brutus, Enobaria, Finnick and Marvel mimicked the signal.

We were all still in.

Once we had landed beneath the arena, Marvel and I were hurriedly led to our rooms. We walked along in silence and he refused to look at me which was worrying. There was a very good chance that neither of us would survive this bloodbath as these tributes were more experienced, more sly and skilled. Whilst we were younger and more able, they were more tactful and brutal.

As we finally reached our separate doors, I grabbed his forearm and he turned to face me. Cold fire resided in his eyes. He was still mad at me for not telling him about the operation.

I struggled to find the right words to say and in the end mumbled, "Don't die."

The flames vanished and I swear that I saw tears rapidly fill his eyes. A low chuckle escaped his throat and his lopsided grin graced his face. "You too, sweet cheeks." Smiling softly, I went to enter my room before he called out to me. "Wait!"

"What?" I asked slowly, turning around.

"Look," he began. "I know that I've been a massive jerk. And I also know that you didn't tell me to keep me safe. Now I'm going to do my best to keep you safe." Tears welled up in my eyes as he continued to speak. "I swear to you that if I do die, it will be protecting you. You will go home Opal... and it'll either with or without me."

He then gave a soft smile and he turned to go into his room. "Marvel, wait!" I called, my voice sounding broken and choked. He turned slowly to face me again and I took full advantage of the situation.

I crossed the small distance between us faster than a bullet and I flung myself into his open arms. We hugged for a minute before I was released from his warm arms and I pressed my lips to his. As our mouths moved together, I gripped his shoulders tightly as his hands held my waist. One of his hands brushed against my stomach and I froze in terror. He would have said something if he had known. He would have been furious.

We pulled away and he looked down at me before whispering, "Love you, sweet cheeks."

"Love you too," I smiled.

Pulling away, I watched him enter his room and entered my own to find Ace waiting for me.

"You didn't tell him," he stated.

I shook my head and sighed as he proceeded to prepare me for the arena and what awaited me. My stylist presented me with tight fitting brown trousers, leather black boots and a khaki coloured vest top. Ace then proceeded to cut my nails and place leather fingerless gloves over my hands and he pulled my hair into a tight ponytail before deeming me ready to go.

"Thank you again Ace... for everything," I nodded, giving him a brief one-armed hug.

"I'll see you on the other side, I suppose," Ace replied with a knowing smile and wink before I stepped onto the metal plate.

Taking deep breaths, I waited as the plate pushed up through the glass tube and towards the ground of the arena. My fingers were pressed against the cold glass as I began my ascend, however, as I got closer to the surface, the material warned up. As the glass vanished, a sudden blinding light made me cover my eyes quickly.

After adjusting for several seconds, I lowered my hands to take in my surroundings. We were all stood in a circle around the golden cornucopia that was full of weapons. I examined the insides of the horn from where I stood on my raised plate to see that it was full to the brim with boxes and piles of weapons. It looked like bags of food and bottles of water were right at the back along with necessities like tents and first aid kits. It was then that I raised my head to took in my wider surroundings.

We were all stood inside what looked like a crumbling circular arena that must have been somewhere historical and important once. There was countless tiers of seats that were all beginning to crumble away due to exposure and bad weather. There were several doors and archways leading outside. One led to what looked like a desert. Another looked like a rainforest, one seemed to lead to a beach and the other was what seemed to be endless rows of barracks.

I then proceeded to look for my companions who were dotted around the circle of tributes. I was easily one of the smallest victors, but that didn't mean that I didn't have a fighting chance.

Readying myself, I counted down along with the timer until it would be safe to step off of the plates. A sob sounded from next to me and I saw a smallish woman from District 6 crying next to me. I tried to make sure that she didn't ruin my focus, however her pitiful wailing made that hard. She was mumbling about her family and death and I watched as her manic gaze flitted from the sandy, dirty ground to each career tribute, myself included.

We had 20 seconds to go before I realised what she was going to do. Her feet moved as I began to yell out at her. The victor leapt down onto the soiled ground and as soon as her boots made contact with the earth, the explosions began. Normally when this happens, a circle of explosions are triggered around the base of the metal plate and this was only meant to be five small ones. What this tribute had done, was trigger everyone's explosions.

Victors screamed as explosions sounded and suddenly the ground slipped away and we all fell down, cornucopia included. Two tributes were instantly killed in the fall.

Dazed and vision fuzzy, I watched as several victors charged towards the cornucopia. Shoving a cluster of rocks away from me, I dashed into the fray and picked up a hatchet and threw it at the back of the male District 6 tribute. He died instantly.

My legs served me well and my skills were only slightly rusty. I watched from a distance as my fellow comrades butchered the District 5 tributes and Blight.

I dove into the horn and scooped up a gun belt with room for two pistols and ammo. Strapping it on, I picked up a light sword and slashed my way further inside. I quickly found a pair of light pistols and a box of ammunition before I began to move deeper into the horn. A man, Woof I think, charged towards me with a gun in his hand and he screamed and yelled as he approached me. Fortunately for me, when he pulled the trigger, the weapon was unloaded and he ran directly into my sword and his back met the hilt of my weapon.

I then heard someone yell my name and I spun around, bloodstained and adrenaline pumped.

Marvel was lying on the floor being punched violently by a pretty woman who had a snarl on her face and was brandishing a knuckle-duster on her fist.

"Opal!" he spluttered and blood spilled from between his lips. "Help." I kicked open a box of resources which looked familiar before I sprinted back to Woof's body. The gun he had been using... was mine. The one that I had used during the last Game. Snatching it up, I rammed some bullets into the chamber and spun around and didn't hesitate. I fired the gun and a bullet landed itself in the woman, Cecilia's head.

The dead body fell away and Marvel leapt to his feet with a bloody grin on his face. "Cheers," he sighed and spat blood before handing me a bronze coloured bow and a black quiver of arrows. I strapped the quiver to my hip and tested the bow- perfect. Marvel then took an array of spears and even took a gun too before we joined our alliance and the dead bodies.

We were all still alive. Marvel had a back tooth knocked out and a nearly broken nose, I had some scrapes, shallow cuts and bruises and Brutus had a sliced cheek. Enobaria had blood all over her metal teeth and a cut forearm, Mags was shaken but only had a sprained ankle and Finnick was fine.

We then proceeded to take what weapons we needed and any other resources before we clambered out of the crater that was caused by the explosions.

Our alliance must have looked terrifying as we all slunk out of the dust, covered in blood and wielding weapons, ready to kill.

And oddly enough... I felt alive whilst I stood over the destruction with innocent blood all over my hands and body as I looked down at the crushed limbs and broken bodies that stared up at me with unseeing eyes.

~X~

**Dun dun dun! Uh oh...**

**Until next time...**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey guys, here's the next chapter! Pretty quick by my standards, huh? I hope you all enjoy this one. For Easter, I'm going to be on holiday down in Dorset for a week, but the thing is that I won't have any Internet, but I'll still be able to write. When I return, I shall have chapters! Yay! Until then I give you this as a gift! Enjoy my special snowflakes!**

**_Disclaimer_: I own nothing, save for Opal and my own characters and ideas!**

Chapter 22

~X~

We instantly decided to stay away from the desert. Our best chance at finding any survivors would be the sea, jungle or barracks.

"We could split up," Finnick suggested. "There's six of us. Brutus and Mags could search the jungle. Marvel and Enobaria could take the sea and Opal and I will take the creepy barracks."

"What are you trying to play at, District Four?" Enobaria snapped, bearing her gleaming, metal teeth. "I don't understand why we don't stick with our district partners?"

"To build trust, perhaps," Marvel suggested with a roll of his eyes.

"I have no problem with that. Let's move out and meet back here in an hour," Brutus nodded.

I watched intently as Brutus hefted twin swords and some daggers onto his back and waist before beginning to head towards the jungle. The elderly Mags hobbled behind him with a silver trident and some hunting knives. Marvel then left with Enobaria and they walked through the sea exit. He had several spears and I watched as he discretely tucked a gun away and threw a wink at me. His companion took some throwing knives and a light sword.

Once they were all gone, Finnick and I began to make our way to our own exit which led to the barracks. "Why don't we look into the desert?" I asked. There was always the chance that we could find people there.

"Nah," he replied with a shrug. "Going in there would be a death-wish. There's no point even going there. Seriously, you could die within minutes."

"Right," I nodded as we made our way through the crumbling archway.

The temperature change was immediate. The warmth of the coliseum was replaced by a slightly chilly temperature and a light breeze teased my hair. What appeared to be light ash fell to the ground like rain or snow and I looked puzzled and turned to Finnick for answers.

"Trust me, I have no idea what it is," my companion replied.  
As we made our way further into the maze of small houses, we lost sight of the arena within the arena and walked side by side. Finnick held his golden trident tightly in his left hand and had a wickedly curved hunting knife in his right hand. I had strung my bronze bow and my hands trembled lightly as we quietly padded along. My quiver was strung across my back and my ammunition belt was strapped along my waist with my faithful gun resting on my left hip.

The silence was terrifying and occasionally the only noise we would hear was whenever one of us stood on something. This seemed to happen every few minutes and we would mumble an apology. Finnick would either kick a pebble or I would stand on and snap a twig.

"So, Opal," he began, clearing his throat. "You and Marvel, huh? I have to admit that I was rooting for you both last year. The romance thing though is really fake though. What caused you to make up a story like that?"

My jaw flopped open and I spun on his glaring. I nudged his leg with my still strung bow and stepped so that I was inches from his face. Anger flooded through me as I began to walk him back towards a barrack.

"Listen here, pretty boy! What Marvel and I have is real unlike what those District 12 tributes tried to also pull last year. I wouldn't expect you to understand, but we are in love!" I snapped, my voice getting increasingly snappier and louder. "Like I said, I wouldn't expect you to understand." The anger then developed as frustration and sadness also built up. "We do love one another and I can prove-"

He began to laugh loudly.

"Oh you make me laugh, Venon. Really, you do. But technically you're just a child and I wouldn't expect you to understand what real love is. You say that you can prove that you really do love him, go on then. Prove it. I'd like to see you-" he began.

Odair was full of overconfidence and naivety. This angered me further as I pressed the arrow into his stomach and his head pressed up against a foggy window.

"You don't know me, Odair. Why do I need to prove this to you? Why so I need to prove that I love him? And why to you? Why here? Why now?" I roared.

"I just don't believe your supposed love-"

"I'm pregnant." Silence. I took a shaking breath. "With his child. And... he doesn't know."

Finnick's gaping face was only before my eyes for a minute before I saw the face in the window. It was covered in blood and its pale hand shot through the glass, breaking it and its claw-like hand seized my ally by the shirt and pulled him inside the barrack.

"Finnick!" I screamed. Elbowing the rest of the glass away, I scrambled inside the tiny house only to land in an empty room save for a coffee table and two pictures on the wall. Gripping my bow tightly, I moved to see the pictures and frowned. It was the 12 tributes from last year- Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark.

Confused, I went to move away, however a sudden impact sent me flying backwards and I slammed downwards through the coffee table. The wind was knocked out of me as I looked up to see Finnick pulling me and himself to his feet.

"C'mon, we've gotta get out of here!" he yelped.

Snatching my dropped bow from the ground, I looked up to see two figures stood in the doorway. Mutations, zombies, memories- whatever you wanted to call them. Before us stood a bloodied version of Katniss and Peeta. Their faces were clawed at and both were covered in blood. I could distinctively see some of Peeta's skull where his skin had been torn at and Katniss' chest was bare. Tatters of clothes covered her stomach and shoulders, however I could clearly see her ribs and a frantically beating heart that was also somehow crawling with maggots.

Screaming, I raised my bow and shot arrow after arrow at these monsters as Finnick navigated our way out of this personal Hell. Peeta and Katniss continued to make their way towards us and I screamed louder than ever as I saw the Mockingjay pin resting on the remains of Katniss' shirt.

"Come on!" Finnick yelped and pulled me backwards through the window.

Landing with a thump, I was on the ground for mere moments before we were both on our feet sprinting for our lives. As we barrelled past barracks, we saw familiar faces of dead tributes. Some we knew and others we didn't. I almost choked as I saw Clove, Cato, Foxface, Rue, Thresh and many more.

Screams sounded as the dead watched us race past them. I began to cry with relief when we finally saw the coliseum and we reached the archway. The temperature began to rise again as we looked back at the barracks. Several dead tributes were making their way rapidly towards us and I readied my bow for the attack. Finnick, however, grabbed a backpack from his back that I had failed to notice earlier and withdrew something wrapped in cloth.

"What-" I began before he pulled out a small pack of wired explosions and a small remote. "Where-" I tried again.

"It was in the horn," he snapped. "Now run!"

Finnick placed the cluster of red sticks of the explosions in the archway and began running with me. The zombies moved faster as we reached the meeting place of our alliance and I saw the smoke of a fire in the air. It was then that Finnick triggered the explosives and the ground shook. The impact threw me to the ground and my ears hummed and buzzed as I slowly sat up to see that the archway had collapsed and forced there to be a huge barrier between us and the barracks. There was no chance that the zombies and dead tributes would be able to reach us now.

"Opal," Finnick sighed.

I fell back to the ground as everything went silent in one ear.

"Opal!" someone called and Marvel suddenly appeared and grabbed me by the arms, shaking me hard. "What happened?!"

I shook my head, when suddenly my ear popped and I cursed as suddenly I could hear everything again. "Ouch!"

Enobaria and Brutus helped us to our feet and the five of us made our way back to the campsite. We all sat down around the fire and Enobaria began to serve us some cooked meat, when suddenly Finnick asked, "Where's Mags?"

Brutus, Marvel and Enobaria paused.

"Finnick-" Marvel began slowly.

"Where is she?"

Brutus' eyes hardened. "She died. We were attacked by a boar whilst we were killing the District 9 and 10 tributes. We were done when suddenly it came out of nowhere. It penetrated her liver and it must have been a mutt or something because she died instantly and the wound turned green." Finnick looked distraught. "She was poisoned. Everything in that jungle is poisonous. And there's only one tribute here who won the previous Quarter Quell which was a poisonous paradise."

"Haymitch," I breathed.

Brutus nodded. "I saw him in there with a girl who was holding a blowgun ready to shoot me. She missed. Blonde thing with big brown eyes. Must be at least 13. I heard that it's that 12 girl from last year's sister. Primrose Everdeen."

I gulped. An uneasy silence settled over the camp as I turned towards Marvel and Enobaria. "So what did you guys find?" I asked

"There was a beach," Enobaria explained through a mouthful of meat. "Not much there. It just seems to go on forever, however the water seems to be charged up by electricity or something."

"How do you know?" Finnick asked, his face blank, still in shock.

"There seems to be another alliance," Marvel explained. "Seeder and Chaff and Beetee and Wiress. We caught them whilst their guard was down and I kicked Wiress into the water. She died instantly. We then killed the rest and came back here."  
I proceeded to count off on my fingers how many tributes there were left. I found myself shocked. "There's us five and the two from District 12."

"Great," Brutus grinned. "I'll be home in District 2 before I know it!"

I threw a cautious look at Marvel as a tense air filled our group. The Games seemed to be moving along quickly... and this was most definitely not a good thing.

That night when we all turned in to sleep, I curled up in a sleeping bag next to Marvel who agreed to stay up and wake me up when he felt tired and I would watch over him. Despite our alliance, I felt that our lives were in danger. This was definitely not a good thing. All the comfort that I could get was from holding onto Marvel's hand and hoping that we wouldn't die whilst my other hand rested on my flat stomach as though it was a feeble attempt to protect our baby.

~X~

**What have I done?! Please don't kill me! Anyways, when I return from my holiday, I will have chapters ready to post as I'll be writing them out whilst I have the time. See you all soon!**

**Until next time...**

**REVIEW!  
\/\/\/**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey guys! So, I'm back from my holiday and I managed to finish writing this story whilst I was there… so that means daily updates! YAY! Hope you're all still enjoying it and a special shout-out to Letter-Witch who has begun to translate this story into German- thanks again!**

_**Disclaimer- **_**I own nothing save for my own ideas and the character of Opal and any other OCs!**

**Chapter 23**

~X~

"Remind me why we're going looking for District 12?" I asked, yawning as the dawn light shone down at us as we stood ready at the entrance to the jungle part of the arena.

Next to me stood Marvel and Finnick while Brutus and Enobaria waited several paces closer to the entrance. "Because we need to end this quickly," the latter of the pair snapped at me sharply in an irritable tone.

Shrugging, I rested my hand on my gun belt as we waited to move into the dense emerald maze of trees and shrubbery.

"Well," Marvel sighed and cocked his own gun. "We'd better get going."

Nodding, Brutus roughly shouldered a sword and began cutting down a path for us to follow. Enobaria trailed after him with a knife in each hand and a grim look on her face. I followed after that holding my gun in a two-handed grip. Finnick was several paces behind me and had his trident ready whilst Marvel brought up the rear with a spear in his hand and his other hand was poised over his own gun.

As I walked through the route that Brutus led us, I couldn't help but feel edgy as we made our way through the tranquil silence. We were disrupting the peace and I had a bad feeling about that.

The natural beauty around us was truly amazing. Each leaf had its own shade of green or even another colour such as purple or orange. The barks of trees ranged from a dark brown to a vibrant pink. Every flower that I saw was either blooming or beginning to flower. Colours ranged from a dark purple which could have been black to a white so bright that it hurt my eyes.

"Remember, everything here is poisonous," Finnick reminded us in a low voice and there was sounds of agreement throughout the whole alliance.

We continued to walk through the jungle which gradually became denser and denser and I could no longer see the sky at all. My feet began to ache and sweat rolled down my forehead and made my shirt begin to cling to my body. After a while, Finnick and I began to trail behind and Marvel moved in front of us and gave me a warm smile.

"So he doesn't know, huh?" the remaining District 4 tribute nodded down at me, discretely gesturing to my stomach.

"No," came my tight reply.

"Why not? I mean, he deserves to know cause he's the father."

I shook my head. "You don't understand."

Suddenly, Finnick grabbed my arm and pulled us to a standstill. "Think about it Opal. He doesn't know and he might not make it out alive. He could die without knowing that he has a kid coming. And literally everyone knows except him," he explained.

"What do you mean that everyone knows, I haven't told anyone-" I froze when I realised a key factor. "Of course, the cameras... How could I forget?" Finnick still looked expectantly at me. "Okay! I'll tell him, but you don't understand. Everyone has a higher motive to get rid of us now!"

Suddenly, Marvel came jogging through the bushes and sighed in relief. "Thank God! I couldn't see you two and I freaked out!" He let out a long sigh. "Anyway, come on! We've found a spring."

We quickly followed Marvel along where we found Brutus and Enobaria sat by the spring with their water bottles ready to be replenished. "Wait," I cut in. "We have no idea if the water's clean and non-poisonous."

The District 2 tributes paused and nodded at one another. Enobaria got to her feet and grabbed my wrist suddenly.

"You can test it for us," she smiled as Brutus went to fill up his bottle.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Marvel snapped and began to move towards us as Enobaria suddenly wrapped an arm around my throat and began to drag me towards the spring.

Digging my heels into the dirt, I screamed once and Marvel and Finnick readied their weapons to attack the woman and Brutus.

However, before either of them could attack, there was a brief, quiet hissing noise and Enobaria froze. Pulling away and yanking my gun free, I whirled on her and spied a dart poking out from her throat. Before I could even blink, she collapsed to the floor and her veins began to bulge from her skin and turn a sickly purple shade before her nose began to bleed. Within several seconds, the canon went off, making me jump.

"What have you done?" Brutus roared and leapt to his feet wielding a sword. Again, there was the hissing sound and a dart appeared in his chest. Staggering backwards, he fell into the spring and the moment that his skin made contact with the water, it hissed loudly and as I peered into the water, his skin began to peel and burn before my eyes leaving his rapidly burning muscles, vital organs and bones.

"Run!" Marvel screamed and I whirled in the direction of where the darts came from and I instantly caught sight of the barrel of a blowgun. My finger instinctively moved and I pulled the trigger. The gunshot rang out and was quickly followed by a young girl's scream. "Opal!"

Breath coming fast and adrenaline coursing through my veins, I sprinted after Finnick and Marvel with terror overwhelming me. We kept running until we finally broke through the thicket and went sprawling into the familiar dirt that belonged in the coliseum.

When we were safely back on the dusty ground, I skidded to the floor and winced as the rocks and hard ground rubbed against my knees and shins. Taking in deep breaths and closing my eyes, relief swept through me. We were okay. We were safe... for now.

"Well," Finnick sighed to my left. "I think that we can safely say that we need to avoid that bloody jungle."

"Agreed!" I called out, opening my eyes and wincing against the afternoon sun. Back in that place I had no idea what time of day it was.

Sitting upright, I dropped my gun and rested my hands on my stomach as a wave of nausea overwhelmed me. Before I could even blink of consider moving somewhere private, I coughed several times before heaving up our pathetic excuse for a breakfast from earlier that day.

Once I was done vomiting, I feebly wiped my mouth and chin with the edge of my shirt and Marvel was ducking down beside me.

"Opal, you okay?" he asked nervously and wiped some hair from my eyes. I weakly nodded and my hands moved back to my stomach. Finnick also knelt down besides us and gave me a stern look. "You sure?"

Our companion coughed and handed me back my gun. "I don't mean to interrupt this tender moment between the two of you, but I think that we'd be safest by the sea," Finnick suggested.

Marvel ground his teeth and paused for a moment and placed his hand on my back whilst rubbing soothing circles onto my lower back. "What do you think, sweet cheeks?" he asked me.

"We need to go," I replied immediately.

Nodding, we gathered what resources we could carry and moved through the archway that led to the sea. A beautiful beach awaited us. A sandy path led towards the right where the sea sat and to the right was a thin layer of trees and bushes. "We could camp there," Marvel suggested, gesturing towards the trees.

We made a small fire and Finnick took his trident and went hunting for fish, leaving Marvel and I at the campsite. With the small fire burning, the sun creating a beautiful horizon and it being just the two of us, it could have possibly been classed as a romantic moment. We sat facing the sea wrapped loosely in a thin blanket with my head on his shoulder. Whilst we sat there, I absent-mindlessly rubbed my stomach and fiddled with the sandy edge of the blanket.

I had this feeling that the Games were ending soon, and a possible way to get more sponsors was to make the pregnancy more obvious and to make people feel sorry for us. Suddenly, my immediate motives seemed like a terrible choice. I seemed some inhumane. I was only saying this to escape the true reason. I had to tell Marvel because he might not make it out alive. What if he died and he never knew that he was a father? What if the child never met him?

The sheer thought of that harsh reality brought tears to my eyes and closed up my throat. I tried to quickly wipe them away, but their presence couldn't escape Marvel's attention.

"Hey, why are crying, sweet cheeks?" he asked in a gentle tone which only made me cry harder. I tried to pull away and attempt to control myself before he got too concerned. "Opal?" The teasing tone was gone and was replaced by worry. "Opal, what's wrong? You can tell me."

I buried my face into his shoulder and my tears darkened his shirt. Chokes escaped my lips as I attempted to control myself. He needed to know. It was now or never.

"I- I- I-" I tried countless times to try and regain hold of my emotions and began to fear that I was going hysterical. "I-"

"Shhhh," he whispered gently, rocking us back and forwards. "Just take deep breaths and relax," he said gently and pressed a tender kiss to my forehead and then my cheek as he made me face him. "Now, tell me what's wrong."

It took me several minutes, but in the end, I managed to begin to breath normally again and I rested my head against his chest and listened to the beating of his heart.

"Take your time," Marvel reassured me.

Steadying and preparing myself, I decided to stay in the position that I was. "I haven't told you something. Something really big."

The cameras would definitely be on us right now. "You can tell me. I promise that I'll listen to the full thing," he vowed and kissed the top of my head.

"I'm pregnant."

Silence.

More silence.

I began to panic.

Oh no! But what if he doesn't want it? What if he hates me? Could I get rid of it if he asked me to? Oh no.

"Wha-" he began and I stayed firmly against his chest. "We... no... When..." he kept trying to say.

I shut my eyes and winced as managed to pry me from his chest and I slowly opened my eyes to see his blank face.

"Opal... Are you- Is it mine?" he asked softly.

I nodded. "Who else's would it be?" I managed to joke nervously and chuckled gently.

Before I could even batt an eyelid, Marvel grinned and pulled me into an enthusiastic hug. All of my worries and qualms vanished and my laughter became louder and more realistic and we clutched to one another in relief and he began asking me questions like when had I found out and how far along I was. When Finnick returned with a massive fish, Marvel dashed up to him in glee and hugged him, announcing the news. For my sake, Finnick feigned shock and congratulated us both before preparing our fish feast.

As we ate and drank our warm, bottled water, we raised our bottles to the baby and within minutes the sponsor parachutes were descending. The fish went along nicely with the salad and sauces and spices. It went down well and was quickly followed by a gargantuan fruit salad filled with what seemed to every fruit that you could find.

Once we were done with our dinner, our ally offered to take the first watch and Marvel and I lay by the fire and waited for sleep to come.

I remember going to sleep with my eyes struggling to stay open in an attempt to count the thousands of stars whilst Marvel's warm hand stroked my belly where our unborn child waited.

~X~

**Well… expected… unexpected? Let me know! It should be daily updates from here on out as I have actually finished writing this story! We have only 3 more chapters to go and then it's finished! I hope you all enjoy it!**

**Until next time…**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	24. Chapter 24

**Okay, I kept my promise for a daily update, so here we go! I'm not gunna say much, but here y'all go I guess… please don't eat me…**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I own nothing save for my own characters and ideas!**

**Chapter 24**

~X~

As soon as I felt that I had closed my eyes and gone to sleep, I woke up again. I frowned as I found myself gazing up at the night sky and I instantly worried that Haymitch and Primrose had found us. Reaching out for Marvel's hand, I only encountered our blanket and began to panic.

"Marvel?" I whispered into the darkness to my left.

"He's just gone for a bit," Finnick assured me from my right.

I jumped at his sudden comment and turned on my side to face him. He was on the other side of the fire and he sat hunched up with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and his trident in one hand.

"Finnick?" I asked sleepily. "I thought you were meant to be asleep and Marvel was taking the next watch."

The District 4 victor sighed and spun his beloved weapon in his hand before getting to his feet. He seemed different, so I sat up and under the concealment of the blanket I wrapped my hand around my gun.

"Oh, he is meant to be on watch," he agreed and moved around the fire to stand over me. "But you see Opal, it's just us two, Marvel and the two from 12. The Games are coming towards an end and I'd be willing to bet any money that the Gamemakers will make an announcement soon to say that once again there can be two victors from one District." Oh no, I could see where this was going. "You two seem really nice people and it is lovely that you have a baby on the way, but I can't let you win. Not with Annie waiting for me back at home."

"Finnick," I began in a gentle voice. "You don't have to do this. We'll find a way-"

"No!" he roared sharply in my face and I flinched backwards. "I have to win. I'm really sorry Opal," Finnick began and raised trident over his head.

"So am I Finnick," I whispered and quickly withdrew my gun and pulled the trigger.

Nothing.

"Big mistake," Finnick smiled sadly and began to thrust his weapon downwards towards me.

Screaming at the top of my lungs, I moved around the trident and hit his knees, pushing us backwards. Finnick landed back-first into the fire and screamed in pain as the ashes seared his thin shirt and the skin on his back. He managed to somehow roll us so that we were on the other side if the fire and I was beneath him.

"Marvel!" I screamed as loudly as I could, when suddenly, Finnick's lips silenced mine and I feebly gasped for air. Disgusted and terrified, I tried to shuffle away, but his hands kept me pinned down and he sat on my waist. "What- what are doing?" I demanded as warm tears began to slide down my cheeks.

A manic light seemed to take over his eyes as his hands moved down from my shoulders to the edge of my shirt. "Well, I'm going to leave Marvel a present and then kill him once I'm done with you."

"You're insane!" I screamed as his eyes grew wider.

"Killing people does something to you, sweetheart. We're all psychotic killers at the end of the day," came his reply as his feverishly warm hands moved under my shirt and moved higher and higher-

"Hey!"

I cried in relief as I looked up to see Marvel holding my bow up with an arrow knocked on the string. His face was murderous and his bow arm lightly trembled.

"Marvel," I sobbed in relief.

"Get. Away. From. Her," he ground out from between his gritted teeth as he struggled to keep his bow arm steady.

When Finnick didn't move, Marvel simply smiled at the District 4 pride and joy before releasing the bow string and the bow made contact with his head. A mere second later, his body collapsed on top of me and I let out a shuddering breath as the canon sounded.

Marvel knelt beside me and together we rolled the dead weight off of me, not saying a word. He then proceeded to carry away Finnick's body to the shoreline so that the hovercraft could collect it.

"Attention remaining tributes, once again, the rule that two tributes from the same District may win. Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favour!"

When he returned, we sat by the fire in silence and waited for the night to pass and the final day of the Games to begin.

~ _I don't want to fall asleep_~

It was when the dawn light broke the edge of the coliseum that our remaining enemies walked from the jungle archway to meet us in the final battle.

Haymitch wore a blue shirt and black trousers and boots. He had several knives pinpointed over his body and a short sword in his hand. He had a large gash on his forehead and looked unshaven and has greasy hair. The girl, Primrose's blonde hair was messy and disgusting and she wore a similar outfit and had a bloodthirsty look in her eyes- something I had seen in Finnick's eyes last night and how Cato seemed last year. She stood ready with her blowgun and was prepared to kill us both.

Marvel and I had come prepared too. He had two silver spears and his gun belt and stood ready by my side. I had my bow and arrows and my own gun at my hip. For several minutes the four of us stood there, waiting for the other District to make the first move.

I had had enough of the waiting game and ever so slowly withdrew an arrow from my quiver. Nobody moved. I then proceeded to string it to my bow and point it at the young girl and watched as they both readied their weapons at me, as expected.

Marvel and I had planned this carefully to maximise best results. As I went to release my arrow, Marvel moved as quickly as a snake and threw his spear at Prim. The weapon hit home and pierced her chest, aiming for the heart. The girl slowly withdrew the weapon from her chest and looked slowly at her older companion before collapsing to the floor and slowly dying. When the canon sounded, Haymitch looked up at us with accusing eyes. The older man was a wreck. He had lost so many tributes and now here we stood, about to kill him.

Roaring in rage, he swung at us with his sword and charged at me and then Marvel. He couldn't make up his mind of which of us he was going to try to kill first. After much circling and feeble slashes, he made up his mind.

Haymitch Abernathy gave a defiant battle cry and charged at me sword first. I drew back my bow arm ready to attack, when suddenly I was knocked to the ground by Marvel who proceeded to pull the trigger of his gun. The bullet made brutal impact with the middle aged man's chest and he fell to the ground in a heap.

I couldn't believe it, we'd won again. Sighing in relief, Marvel dropped to his knees and holstered his gun and let his spears roll towards me.

"We did it," I sighed and he threw me a huge grin. "I can't believe it!"

I sat upright and smiled at the man that I loved. There he knelt in the dirt, disheveled and dirty, but alive and happy. We were both okay. We were going to be parents.

Then, the cruellest thing possible happened. Haymitch rose to his feet staggering. His life's blood continued to pour out of him, however his sword was still in hand. He staggered towards Marvel and thrust his sword downwards and I began to scream out, but I was too late.

The gleaming sword produced from Marvel's stomach and he yelled in agony. "Marvel!" I screamed and raised my bow. I shot Haymitch in the head and the canons sounded. Dropping my weapons to the ground, I crawled to his side and cradled his body as he shuddered and his hands gripped at the gaping wound at his abdomen and I began to sob hysterically.

"Opal," he began to cry and his tears mixed with his blood and my own tears which were falling fast. "I love-"

"No!" I screamed, my throat aching. "Don't you dare begin to say your goodbyes, Marvel Queyen! I am not letting you die!" I got to my feet and raised my head to the sky and knew that all of Panem was watching me. "Fine! I see how it is! We've won, but you're just going to let him die?! No! If he dies, then so do I!"

"Opal," he coughed.

I furiously marched over to Prim's blowgun and snatched up a dart and held up to the sky. Anger driven and adrenaline pumped, I placed the sharp edge over the veins in my throat and grinned up the cameras.

"Either we both win, or we both die! Your choice!" I yelled.

Nothing.

Sighing in defeat and anger, I crawled back to Marvel's side and grasped his hand tightly and looked up into the sky.

"Just remember that by you not accepting this, you are condemning both of us and our unborn child to death," I spat and raised the dart.

Marvel screamed in shock and the weapon penetrated the skin on my throat.

"Stop!" a voice called out over a tabloid system. "Wait! Quickly get a hovercraft in there and save them both!"

I grinned as I tossed the dart away and collapsed to the ground, pretending that I was in agony. Little did our saviours know that the dart had no poison in it. And as we were lifted away, I hoped and prayed that the Capital would do their job right for once.

~X~

**Urm…**

**Until next time…**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	25. Chapter 25

**Well… here we go again! This is the second last chapter and I hope you all still don't want to kill me after this! One more chapter to go after this one! Enjoy!**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I own nothing save for my own characters and ideas!**

**Chapter 25**

~X~

_"I'm so sorry, Miss Venon," President Snow said sadly as I buried my head into my hands. "He was too badly wounded to save. The wound was too severe. And also the traces of poison in the dart killed your unborn baby. I am so very sorry."_

_Pushing away from the desk, I got to my feet and spat in the President's face. "Go to Hell! You've taken from me the two most important things in my life. Like I said, I hope that you rot in Hell!"_

_Screaming in rage, I fled from his office and sprinted into the lift and pressed the button that led to the roof. As soon as the doors had opened, I raced to the edge of the roof and clambered onto a parapet so that I was looked down into the main city of the Capital. The force-field wasn't on. _

_Good. _

_"Opal!" Gloss' voice sounded from behind me. "Marvel wouldn't want you to do this."_

_"I don't care anymore," I stated emotionlessly and smiled._

_My bare feet slipped over the edge and I was falling, plummeting to the ground and people were screaming my name. Just before I hit the ground, a voice yelled out my name... And everything went black._

~ _And I don't want to miss a thing_~

I sat bolt upright in a white room that had nothing inside save for the metal bed that I was laying in. White sheets rested in top of me and I even wore a white hospital gown. Confused, I went to move from the bed, when suddenly a section of the wall opened and in walked President Snow.

"Ah, Miss Venon. Glad to see that you're awake," he smiled and stood at the end of my bed.

"Where's Marvel? What have you snakes done with him?" I snapped and the President of Panem chuckled and moved to sit on the end of my bed.

"Relax Opal. We've saved him," he reassured me.

"I don't believe you."

He grinned. "Of course, why should you?" He clapped his hands twice and someone opened the hidden door and a woman pushed in a wheelchair in which my District partner sat in. He seemed weak, but alive and relatively okay. Tears began to well up in my eyes as the sight of him made all of my worry instantly vanish. His face broke out in a smile.

"Opal," he grinned and was wheeled to my bedside. "Hey."

I didn't celebrate too quickly and faced Snow. "Why? What do we owe you now? Our child? Our services? Our lives?" I snapped.

Snow glared at my quick remarks and shook his head. "You tributes always assume that I'm so willing to snatch young lives away, but what none of you consider is that I am also human and have a life and a family. I will have some conditions concerning your survival of the Games, but know this: if you two wish for your lives and your child's freedom, you will have to be subject to secrecy."

Intrigued and confused, I settled in my bed and the woman who had wheeled Marvel inside left us before bringing in a chair for President Snow.

"So, what are the conditions?" I asked, holding Marvel's hand.

Snow smiled grimly. "There is something that you must know first, something that we tell very few people. The tributes that are killed in the Games never died. You inflicted damage upon them and even brought them to the brink of death, but here in the Capitol we have the capability and resources to easily heal these tributes back to full strength. As a result of this, the Districts remain under control, but we remain innocent."

"So wait," Marvel interrupted. "All of these people that have died, that we may have killed... are alive?"

"Yes, they are. We go through a lengthy process which includes shipping off these supposedly dead children to another continent," Snow explained.

My jaw fell as the news washed over us. "But-"

"There are more continents, Miss Venon. Several people know of this fact, yet nobody has decided to go and see what lies beyond the sea," he explained. "I have a team of sailors in District 4 who at the end of every Games go and take the tributes to another continent where they will receive a new identity, appearance and life."

"What about our families, and our friends? Our homes and possessions?" Marvel interjected.

"Your homes will be emptied and made ready for any new victors. Your family is entitled to keep your possessions, however I am sure that we can retrieve some items if we need to," President Snow nodded.

He then got to his feet and dusted himself down.

"Wait, so you're going to send home an empty coffin to our families?" I asked incredulously.

The older man looked annoyed. "Unfortunately I will have to. Marvel was practically dead anyway and we can easily claim that you died when you turned on yourself with that blowgun dart. This is a very delicate and secretive affair. Only several people in the Capital know of this and some trusted individuals in District 4 and the tributes that we send over to Gretem."

"Gretem?" I repeated slowly.

"Yes. Panem is made up of the continent that was once known as North America; Gretem is what was once a continent called Europe," he explained. "Now, I will leave you two alone and will see you in a week so that we may ship you off. Farewell."

Snow went to leave and I began to talk, when suddenly he turned back around with a wide grin on his face. "Oh and congratulations, you'll be having a girl."

One he was gone, I pulled Marvel into a tight hug and kissed him passionately. We stayed together for several hours before he was wheeled away and I was also placed in a chair. I was led down several levels of the building, only to find that the hallways looked very familiar. They were the corridors of the styling centre.

After a long journey, I was laid down on another metal bed and there I stayed. A new, specialised stylist team awaited me where they had a variety of tools. After being in there for many long hours, I came out looking very different to before. They had bleached my hair so that it was a very light blonde that could have passed as white. They removed all of my scars and tanned me more than before and even went as far as to change my eye colour to purple and made my nose smaller than before.

When I left the centre I looked completely different and stepped out holding the new details of my life. I was allowed to keep my first name, but I had to select another last name. I went into the centre as Opal Venon and left as Opal Mills.

Afterwards, I was taken to a new room that adjoined onto Marvel's. The next time I saw him, his hair had been cropped considerably and dyed a pale blonde and his eyes were bluer than before. He was Marvel Cooper now.

We stayed in those adjoining rooms for a week and barely left. Snow had come to us on our last day with our new documents and details that would get us safely to Gretem and set up.

When the day for us to leave came, we took two cases each of clothes and we had five boxes of other things we would need in our new lives. We were driven in a van to the silent train station where we boarded a sleeker train than we had ridden here in. A day later we arrived in District 4 as the sun was setting. Another van then took us and our possessions to the docks of the District. Several men carried our things onto what looked like a cargo boat. We were then showed where we would be staying for a week.

As the boat left Panem, I stood at the railing and watched as our beloved country slowly melted away. I stayed at the railing until I couldn't see the land anymore before walking to where Marvel also stood. I still couldn't believe that he was alive and relatively okay. He had been quieter than normal, but he must be as shocked as I was that we were alive and were heading towards a new life. When I reached his side, I gently took his hand in mine and we watched the sun set which caused the sea to turn red like blood. We were both okay.

~X~

**Hahaha! Oh what am I like?! You love me all really, don't you? ;-)**

**Until the next (and last) time…**

**REVIEW!**

**\/\/\/**


	26. Chapter 26

**Well… here's the final chapter! I wonder what will happen… Well, read on and find out my lovely readers and reviewers! I hope you like this final chapter! And thank you to everyone who has been reading and reviewing! Love y'all!**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I own nothing save for my own characters and ideas!**

**Chapter 26**

~X~

Within three months we had both settled into Gretem and had a small house situated on the seafront. It was nothing like our home back in District 1. Sometimes I would sit and wonder what had happened to our families and friends. Were they okay? Did they really believe that we were dead? Did they mourn us?

Sometimes I would sit by the large window that allowed us an amazing view of the sea and docks and ponder over what our lives could have been if we had remained in Panem. How different would it be?

Within these three months, we settled in nicely to the city that we lived in with Gretem. Every city had a number and ours was 108 which apparently used to be on the shoreline of a place called the United Kingdom. Panem lay over the massive sea. Marvel even got a job as a jeweller's apprentice which is what he intended to do as a job once he had left the academy back at home. He was content in his job and came home from work grinning every night. Whilst he was away, I worked on making our home more comfortable and like our own. Once the baby was born, I was to attend some night classes so that I would be able to eventually learn to become a doctor or nurse.

Speaking of the baby, she had grown bigger each day and grew restless. Every few weeks we would go for a check-up. Our doctor told us that she was very healthy and would be due in several months.

That news was the very moment that we had been waiting for.

~_And I don't wanna miss a thing_~

Within five months of being in city 108 of Gretem, I went into labour one night and eight hours later I gave birth to a healthy baby girl who couldn't have been more perfect. Marvel and I had argued over names for a very long time and after further arguments, he had practically convinced me to name her Diamond. However, I kept coming up with other suggestions.

Somehow, in the end we decided to call her Glimmer after the beloved sister and friend that we had left behind in Panem.

The days turned into weeks which turned into months and then years. Baby Glimmer grew up into a graceful and intelligent girl who looked very much like her father. Marvel eventually became fully qualified and became a jeweller and even began to run his own business. I finished my education and learnt how to become a nurse and was offered a job in the local hospital. Glimmer attended one of the nearby schools and had the upbringing that any child should have- free of the Hunger Games and all of the training that came with it.

Marvel and I considered many times returning to Panem, but in the end decided that the risk was too high. Snow would surely kill us this time if we returned. This greatly upset me as Glimmer could never know or meet her family. I could never see them again and neither could Marvel.

Neither of them knew about the list that I had written down with the names of everyone that we had left behind and that were a part of our lives. My parents, his parents, my sister, Gloss, Cashmere, Ace, Delphine, our friends, the rest of my family and the rest of Marvel's too. Every now and then I would look over the list and find that every time I found it harder and harder to remember what their faces looked like. However, Snow had managed to get us pictures of all of them which kept their memory alive in my mind.

17 years after Glimmer had been born, 15 years since we'd been married, the three of us sat down on the eve of Glimmer leaving her school to go onto further education in another city we decided to tell her the truth.

The three of us sat down in our living room and with us I brought the pictures and tapes that held our Hunger Games and all of the footage that came with it. As we explained our history to our daughter, I fiddled with the wedding ring on my finger as I monitored her reactions. At first she was shocked, but became more understanding. We showed her the pictures of her family and our friends back in Panem and we even played her the tapes from the 74th and 75th Games. I expected her to hate us, but instead I thinly hat he sympathised with us and understood what we did and why.

When the time came for my beautiful daughter to leave us to learn to become a teacher at a school for young children, she told me something that I could never forget.

She looked me in the eye and said, "Look, Mum. I understand what you did and why... and I'm proud of you and Dad. Watching those tapes, I can understand why you did what you did and that you had no choice."

I cried at that. "Thanks Glimmer," I smiled and she handed me two things. A laptop and a newspaper.

"I did some digging and recently, within the last year, President Snow died and the Games were abolished. I read it last night after what you told me. You and Dad... you can go back."

I couldn't believe it. "But... you have to come with us!" I urged as more tears fell from my face and my beloved daughter smiled at me.

"That's why I have you the laptop. I can talk to my family when you get there," she sighed and went to muse my hair but I ducked and laughed before pulling her into a hug. "I'll see you soon, Mum."

As soon as she had stepped into the train that would whisk her away I ran home and shared the news with Marvel and we each took several bags and got onto the next boat to Panem. During the journey I wondered what had changed. Rumours I heard on the boat was that a rebellion had destroyed Snow's reign as president and that the Games had been removed as the Districts took back what was theirs.

I remember how I felt as our homeland appeared on the horizon. We had specifically asked to be taken back to District 1 and our wish was granted. We stood at the helm of the ship as we pulled up onto a newly built dock. We took our bags with us and walked through the town where we had run through as children. We walked past the academy which was now an empty building which was left alone and untouched. We walked through the Victor's Village and past out old houses.

It's funny and slightly weird as the sun set over District 1 as memories came flooding back to me. Memories from before, during and after the Games. Memories as a child, as a teenager in training and in the Games. As an adult in Gretem and raising Glimmer.

I paused in the square of the Victor's Village and stared at the houses and Marvel went to walk off, when suddenly something moved from inside the house where we used to live. Without warning, I dashed up into the house to find that the door was unlocked and that the house that had once been mine was left exactly as I must have left it.

I walked through rooms and touched certain objects as more distinct memories hit me harshly and I began to cry. That's how Marvel found me. Sat on the bed in our bedroom sobbing on the bed. We sat together and cried as we looked at our old home.

Ten minutes later, we walked down the stairs to hear a sniffing. I walked into the sitting room to see an elderly dog like a husky sat on a sofa with its head on its paws and looked sorrowful. As soon as I stepped into its eye line, it bounded towards me as quickly as it could and licked my hand. I squatted and stroked the fur on its neck where a found a collar.

"Titanium," I breathed and the dog licked my cheek. Laughing, I called out. "Marvel! Marvel! You'll never guess who I found!"

He stepped inside the living room with a smile on his face and tears streaking down his face. "Well, you'd never guess who I found."

And from around the corner stepped my sister. The sister that I had volunteered for in the 74th Hunger Games. The sister that I had loved and cared for. The sister that shared the name of our daughter. Glimmer.

"Opal," she choked out and ran towards me.

Tears instantly flooded down my cheeks as we embraced halfway across the room and I grabbed onto her. "Glimmer," I sobbed and pulled her tighter against me.

"You're safe and okay. Both of you," she smiled through her tears.

I nodded as I hugged her with one arm and scratched Titanium behind the ears and smiled widely at my husband.

Marvel winked at me and moved across the room and pulled both us into a hug. "Glad to be back," he smiled. The three of us stood there embracing and Titanium wormed us way into the embrace too and sat inside the circle of hugs. I cried gently as I held onto them and felt relief. We were all okay despite the time we had spent apart and the pain and trauma we had gone through. Despite many trails and two Hunger Games, despite being sent to another continent and gaining a new identity and life, we were all okay and alive.

I was almost glad that we had even through what we had as it had made us all better people. We were all stronger and better people. We knew what we were capable of and what was precious to us. What we loved and hated. Where we belonged and where we were respected and wanted. And as I stood there with my sister, husband and loyal dog, I knew that I was truly glad for the experiences that I had gained and whys I had gone through.

And I was confident that I wouldn't change a thing. And that I didn't want to miss another thing.

~X~

**Well… we're finished! Please still review and re-read if you want! I still can't believe that this story is actually finished now!**

**A massive thank you to everyone who has read, favourite, subscribed and followed both me and the story- well done for sticking with me!**

**Huge thanks to all of the people who reviewed throughout the story's progress. The list is as follows…**

**TheOldDuir, Dr Moustachio Girl, Jabberjays, ConversesAndTHG, coaster317, creativewriter17, Inner Sanctuary, Luli Cullen, Unchanging Queen of Magyk, Philippa, samiesimpson1, destinyblue and the Guest reviewers for being my motivation to write and update as quickly as I could!**

**Anyways, as I have important exams coming up, I won't be posting that much (maybe nothing at all), however I can confirm that when I do come back, it will be with some completed stories so that means quick updates for all of you. My future stories include:**

**A Supernatural and Silent Hill crossover**

**A Once Upon a Time story**

**A massive and complex Game of Thrones fic following the first 3 books/seasons with my own ending**

**And of course my long awaited Supernatural series**

**I hope to see you all soon. Stay subscribed, favourite and following and thank you once more the massive support and good number of reviews.**

**Love,**

**MadeOfTitanium**

**xxx**


End file.
